Always and Forever
by lukeandlor383
Summary: Sequel to Don't Mess With Imperfection. LukeLorelai. Our favourite Gilmore Girls over come numerous obsticles, including breakups, and new additions. T for safety.
1. We Need To Talk

**Chapter One: We Need To Talk**

**Title: Always and Forever **

**IMPORTANT: This is the sequel to _Don't Mess With Imperfection _if you haven't read that yet, I suppose y****ou**** don't have to…but you'd be awfully lost if you ****didn****'t. While your over there…I'm sure you ****wouldn****'t mind reviewing! **

**Disclaimer: If I'****ve**** said it once, I'****ve**** said it a thousand times. I got ****nothin****' over here. Although, if it were mine…I certainly ****wouldn****'t have boycotted. Feel free to te****ll**** me what's going on in the season-don't hold out on me, I just can't bear to watch it myself any longer.**

**A/N: I had to add an extra two room to the _Crap Shack_ just picture it upstairs. ****Lorelai****'s bedroom then the office…then the other bedroom.**

**This lovely first chapter was beta-ed by the one- the only – Mika. A.k.a my resident guardian angel sent from above to keep me sane.**

The honeymoon was rather different then any other honeymoon. There was a third person…on a normal honeymoon with normal people this would have been a little awkward, or if you have a mind like Lorelai's and think everything is "Dirty!", maybe even a little kinky. But it wasn't like that at all. It was a family honeymoon. Lorelai, Luke and Rory, together as a real family should be.

Lorelai had decided, "Florida is so much better in theory." She had complained on more then one occasion that it was hot, humid, and rainy. "How the hell can it be hot _and _raining? Doesn't the hot automatically go away once the precipitation starts coming down?" She was right, that's how it should be…the water should cool the air. But no. It was a hot rain. The air was sticky, and even if you wanted to go out you couldn't drive because the traffic was horrendous, and walking was completely out of the question because of Lorelai's large stomach and swollen ankles.

"Mom, just try to have a good time, it'll be okay."

"We're here for a whole damn two weeks. Two weeks of this? It's insane!"

"We could always just go home early." Luke suggested.

Lorelai laughed, "Ha-ha. No. We're here for our honeymoon. We're staying the full time. How much longer are we staying?"

Rory checked her watch, "Only six days, four hours, and thirty-six minutes." Lorelai moaned.

"Hey Luke, about that going home early thing…"

"I have tickets for tonight at seven, I knew you couldn't take too much of this…crappy weather."

Lorelai smiled genuinely and kissed him on the cheek, trying to stay 'PG'. in her daughter's presence.

"Thank you." He nodded.

They walked back to their hotel room, packed their things and were set and ready to go a half hour before their plane was set to leave. Which really wasn't good, seeing as Luke was extremely punctual, and being married to Lorelai Gilmore-Danes was a little discouraging when it came to simple things such as being on time to something as important as a flight back home.

"On the road again…" Lorelai sang to herself and to Rory. Rory giggled girlishly and walked hand in hand with her mother to the boarding area.

---New Haven, Connecticut--– Yale University

"Ann, have you seen my blue Polo?" Oliver asked from the bedroom. Ann was sitting in the kitchen nursing a cup of coffee while quietly reading the newspaper.

"Nope." She said.

"What about the green one?"

"You have a green Polo?"

"Yes Ann! I wore it to Sarah's keg party last month."

"Sarah? Sarah who?"

Oliver was now getting frustrated, "My cousin's fiancée! For heaven sakes Ann, don't you listen when we talk to each other?"

"Yes Oliver I listen to you! Oh! Your cousin James?"

"No...Phillip."

"Right…Phillip….?" Oliver settled on his red Polo and walked out the front door without saying goodbye to Ann, who was perfectly fine with it, seeing as she was perfectly content with her coffee and Yale Daily News, and New York Times. When Ann was finished reading she decided to check in with her sister.

---On The Airplane, Flying From Florida, To Stars Hollow---

"Hello." Luke said as he answered Lorelai's cell phone.

"Why Lorelai, do you have a cold? Your voice is so…"

"Hi Ann," Luke cut her off.

"Hello Luke. How's Florida?" She asked.

"About a hundred miles behind us. We left early coz Lorelai couldn't take it anymore. She was complaining about everything. Driving Rory and I crazy." Luke explained.

"Yeah, our girls aren't ones for hot weather."

"I'm aware…Lorelai's sleeping right now, I'll have her call you when she wakes up."

"That sounds good, thanks."

"Anytime, I'll talk to you later."

"Kay, bye."

"Bye." Luke hung up the phone and just watched his girls sleep. _They're beautiful when they sleep…the both of '__em_The flight went smoothly, with minimal turbulence, and the girls woke right before landing.

"Lorelai," Luke prompted quietly, "Ann called when you were asleep, and she wanted to talk to you."

"Okay, I'll call her when we get home." Lorelai replied sleepily.

When they got back to their small apartment Luke immediately set out on his house hunt again. He turned on the computer, and must have waiting a half hour before the Internet was up and running, "Jeez Lorelai, this computer is so damn slow…we could get that new Internet you know, it's supposed to be a lot faster then this." Luke told her.

"Yes, but…that defeats the purpose." Lorelai stated.

"Of what!? Getting on the Internet, coz it's so much faster with this new thing they've got out. Honestly,

we should just get it."

"No, no, no, no. The whole point of the slow Internet _is_ you get to turn on the computer, attempt to log-in. Wait around a while, make a sandwich, maybe watch _Ellen _dance around a little, dance around yourself if you feel the need, and sometimes, even eat your sandwich. It's good that slow Internet of ours. It works. Rory and I like it." Lorelai explained, Luke only shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"If you say so, Crazy Lady."

"I do, Burger Boy." Luke gave her a stern look, she just smiled back at him and went into the other room to call Ann back.

"Hi, talk fast, gotta finish this paper by three minutes ago." Ann answered.

"Wow, nice greeting, you should work for Hallmark."

"Yeah, yeah. Hold on like four seconds and I'll talk to you."

Lorelai began counting, "One…Two…Three…Four…kay, ready to talk now."

"God Lorelai, everything's so difficult with you."

"Why thank you, mom." Lorelai said sarcastically.

"Ouch. Comparing me to Mom, harsh Lor, harsh."

"Oy with the 'Lor' already."

"Oy?" Ann asked, obviously confused.

"Yes, oy."

"Mmm, _Lorelai_, I had no idea you were three years old."

"Goo-goo gah-gah." Lorelai joked.

"I said three years, not three months." She paused, "Anyway, I called you earlier with an agenda. Can I lean on you for a second."

"Sure."

"I want to break up with Oliver." She said simply as if it were no big deal.

"Ha-ha! I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

"No. He'll be back soon. Please…help me?" Ann pleaded

"You've got a good guy there, why would you want to screw that up?!"

"I don't know…have you ever lived with an English guy? The accent is amazing at first, but after a while you just wanna say, 'shut the hell up!' you know? And plus…there's someone else."

"Oh, Ann." Was all Lorelai could say, she was very happy she was married and didn't have to deal with the stresses of dating anymore. "Who is the other guy?"

"Bryan. He's so…god, I can't even explain him, he's so sweet and kind, and handsome.. he's perfect!" Ann cooed.

"And what's Oliver? Chopped liver?"

"No, he's just…did you know he's an anal clean freak. He alphabetized my magazines the other day when I was at class. He scrubbed the kitchen top to bottom because he found an ant on the floor. I mean seriously one damn ant isn't going to kill you. He carried around this creepy hand sanitizer and squirts some into his hand every frickin' time he touches something. And finally the icing on my already oh so fabulous cake…he refuses to wear anything but Polo shirts, and I've never once seen him in a pair of jeans." She waited for Lorelai to answer her, when she didn't she added, "He says the word, 'exuberant' a lot."

"What's wrong with the word exuberant?"

"Nothing, but he uses it on a daily basis, never, ever…enthusiastic, or abundant even. It's crazy. Please help me."

"Wait…did you say Bryan? Luke's friend Bryan? He is way too old for you. No, no, no. Ann, hon, little sister, friend, you cannot date someone that much older then you."

"You're dating Luke, he's older then _you_." Ann pointed out.

"I'm three years older then you, Luke is two years older then me, Bryan is two years older then Luke. This isn't a complicated equation Ann, would you like to do the math or should I?"

"Seven years is like nothing."

"You're twenty-one, Bryan is twenty-eight. Those seven years are big. I'm not going to help you do this. I like Oliver, but if you're not happy with him, do what you have to do. I am not, however, supporting you with the whole Bryan thing. I hope that you will follow your heart and make the right decision. I love you and I only want the best for you, okay?" Lorelai made sure to talk slower then normal as to get her point clearly across.

"Now look who sounds like mom?"

"Why thank you, I'm really feeling the love now."

"If you're not going to help me, I'm just gonna go, kay?"

"Fine, just…think before you act, alright?"

Ann ignored her and just said, "Bye, Lorelai." And hung up. Lorelai shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Lorelai!" Luke called from the other room. Lorelai walked as fast as she could over to the living room, where the computer was set up. "I found a house." Luke pointed to the house on the screen. "It's on Peach Street, it's kind of falling apart, but we can fix that. The price is reasonable, and affordable for its condition. The only bad thing about it is it's next door to Babbette's house."

"Looks perfect, how many rooms?"

"Three bedrooms and an office." Lorelai looked at the pictures on the computer.

"It looks good to me, we should go see it." Luke agreed, they got their coats, took Rory to The Kim's, and drove to the house. The house wasn't as bad as the computer made it sound. It wasn't falling apart, but there was some visible damage that could be easily fixed, and it looked spacious.

"It's perfect for us!" Lorelai told Luke.

"It has potential." Luke added.

"Luke! Lorelai!" Babbette came jogging out of her house to see the couple standing in the front yard.

"Whadda ya doin' here?" She rasped, "Are you two gonna buy the house?"

"Maybe, we're not sure yet." Lorelai told her.

"That's great sugah! It's a great house, perfect for kids! Needs a little work, but that can be easily repaired?I'd love it if

you lived here! It'd be so great!" Babbette exclaimed.

**---Yale---**

Ann sat on the counter; she was ready to do this. She was going to ask him to move out. Tell him she needed space, that he wasn't't right for her…? How could you let down someone who once meant so much to you? It's not like he did anything wrong…Ann just needed change. When he walked in he smiled and

leaned in to kiss her., she put her hand in front of her lips and took a step back.

"Oliver," She began, "We need to talk."


	2. Introducing our newest additions

**Chapter two: Introducing our newest additions.**

**Title: Always and Forever**

**Disclaimer: I've got nothing. Sorry.**

**Reviewer's: If I didn't reply to your review thank you for reading and keeping track of my story! I hope you'll enjoy the next installments. **

**A\N: I know I'm horrible at keeping with my timelines…I have to tweak…just one more thing. I originally planned for the twins to be born in February, but with my horrid planning I had Lorelai four months pregnant at the wedding…so they'd be born in May. That annoyed me. So, I'm tweaking and saying she was six months in at the wedding. I know – I'm sorry. I'm breaking a lot of rules here, (including "no flying in your third trimester") Please…put the pitchforks away.**

**---Flashback----**

"_Oliver," She began, "We need to talk."_

_--_

"What is it Ann?" Oliver questioned in his normally irresistible accent. "Did I leave the bedroom light on again? Damn! I forgot, I'm sorry. It won't happen again, I promise." He defended.

"No, Oliver. It's not that. We just – I can't do this anymore."

"Do what?" He asked obviously thoroughly confused.

"_This._ Me and you, you and me. I can't do this anymore. I don't want to lead you on anymore."

"Lead me on? Ann, what the hell are you talking about?" He shouted, beginning to get a little frustrated.

"I don't love you! I don't feel I can have a future with you! I'm trying to say this in plain English without hurting your feelings Oliver but apparently I can't! So here – it's over! I'm done! I want you to move out as soon as you can. Okay?!" She shouted. She didn't mean to be pushy nor aggressive but it came out that way.

"Fine. I'll go stay at my cousins tonight; I'll be back tomorrow between three and five o'clock. Don't be here. I'll get my stuff and be out of your hair, and out of your life. Forever." He looked into her eyes one last time, "I loved you Ann Marie Gilmore. I truly did." It was Ann's turn to look down and pretend to be fascinated with her shoes. "Goodbye." And he left. Ann immediately collapsed on the floor and began to cry. Maybe she had made the wrong decision. _No. I did the right thing. This was the right thing for me. _She attempted to convince herself, _Maybe I should have listened to Lorelai._

---**Gilmore-Danes Apartment**---

"So do you think Rory's gonna like the house? Should we take her to look at it before we put in a bid?" Lorelai asked, paranoid.

"Lorelai, she's going to love the house. If you want we can take her for a ride over there later. But I promise – she'll love it no matter what."

"Fine." Lorelai replied, defeated. Luke shook his head and they went back to the paperwork they were filling out for the house. "Hey, Luke?"

"Mmmhmm." He grumbled.

"How old is Bryan?"

"His birthday is next month, but he's 28." Luke told her. Lorelai smirked.

---**Gilmore mansion**---

"Richard, have you any idea when Lorelai gets back from her honeymoon?" Emily asked, coming out of the kitchen, approaching Richard who was on the couch deeply invested is a thick leather bound book.

"She returned a few days ago, Emily. I told you that." He replied, not looking up from his book.

"No, you most certainly did not! I do not recall you informing me that she'd arrived. Why would you not tell me my oldest daughter is back from her honeymoon!?" Emily exclaimed.

"Emily," He put down his book, "I swear to you that at one point within the three days our eldest daughter has been back in Connecticut, I informed you of her arrival."

Emily scoffed, and stuck her nose in the air, "Fine." And with that she walked out of the room, leaving Richard to his reading.

----

Time flew after that. Lorelai, Luke and Rory were able to purchase what they now called, _The Crap Shack_, Ann slowly but surely moved on still not able to look Oliver in the eye in the five classes they had together, and Emily and Richard…were, well, Emily and Richard. Before they knew it, Lorelai was in her ninth month – and about ready to 'pop' at anytime. She was unable to maneuver herself off of the bed – never mind all the way down the stairs. So Luke moved the bed down stairs to make it easier for his wife to move around.

"Lu-uke!" Lorelai called. Luke was in the kitchen making dinner, but he put down his wooden spoon, turned the stove down and walked into the living room.

"You beckoned?" Luke joked.

"Can I have some coffee please? I've gone two months without it…I need something. Anything. Do you have any of those weird coffee flavored candies? Coz those work just fine too."

"Those have loads of caffeine in them. So no, none of those."

"Can I have a cup of coffee then? I'll love you forever,"

"Eh-hem," Luke coughed.

Lorelai smiled, "I already will love you forever, Luke. Chill out."

"You only have a couple of weeks, couple of days even. Just wait it out? For the sake of you, and our kids."

"Fine." Lorelai huffed. After a few minutes Lorelai started to hold having small pains in her lower abdomen. "Luke…" She called faintly when the pain began getting stronger. Luke ran over to her side as fast as he could.

"You okay?" she shook her head "what's wrong?" she held her stomach "I'm gonna take you to the hospital, okay?" She nodded. "Rory! Grab your mothers bag for the hospital please!" Luke shouted.

"Is it time? Is it time!?"

"I think so," Lorelai managed.

"Finally!" Rory squealed and ran the stairs as fast as her little legs could carry her. She came back down within ten seconds and the Gilmore-Danes family was out the door in three seconds flat. Luke drove as fast as he could without breaking about a dozen Stars Hollow traffic laws. By the time they'd reached the nearest hospital, _Hartford General Hospital,_ Lorelai's contractions were coming roughly four minutes apart.

"General Hospital? What is this, part of a soap opera? Couldn't they have picked another name?" Lorelai joked, trying to overcome the pain she was experiencing.

"I'm sure the hospital was built long before that show aired, hon." Luke replied, reaching out for her hand to help her out of her Jeep. Once inside Luke talked to a doctor and they immediately made up a room for Lorelai. The nurse checked to make sure everything was going as planned, and sure enough it was. 13 hours, and one exhausted Lorelai, the twins were born.

"Dad, what's the date today?" Rory asked when she was allowed to come into the room to see her mother.

"February 13," Luke told her, and lifted her up so she could lie down with Lorelai.

"What are the twins' names?"

"We haven't decided yet, hon." Lorelai explained. "But we should probably talk about that." Lorelai directed at Luke, "I was thinking naming then after your parents."

**I know the whole 'William' thing is overdone…but I'm a softy, really.**

"Lorelai, we don't have to…"

"I want too." She paused, "William and…"

"Lauren. My mom's name was Lauren."

"William and Lauren Danes. Perfect."

"What about middle names?" Rory asked, "Mines Leigh…what are theirs?"

"What about your parents Lorelai?"

"My parents?! Ha! That's funny. Lauren Emily and William Richard? I don't think so."

"What are your parents middle names?" Luke asked.

"Ugh, Ethan and Marie. Lauren Marie and William Ethan?"

"I don't know, I kind of like it." Luke told her. She smiled.

"Me too. Rory Leigh Gilmore, Lauren Marie Danes, and William Ethan Danes."

"Why I am the only Gilmore?" Rory asked.

"You came first, hon, you're special." Lorelai thought for a moment. "We could change your name I suppose. To Danes, if you want." Lorelai looked to Luke for reassurance, he nodded.

"Really! That would be awesome!"

The nurse entered, "Mr. and Mrs. Danes, we're going to bring your babies in now, is that okay?"

"Yes, please, thank you." Lorelai replied with a nod, "Rory you wanna hold one of your siblings?"

"Could I!?" Lorelai nodded, "Can I hold…Lauren?"

"Sure," When the nurse brought the two babies in Lorelai motioned for Luke to take William and asked the nurse to give Rory Lauren.

"Hey, mom, do we have to call William – William – all the time? Or can we call him Will? Or maybe…Liam? My friend's name is Liam…I think that name is nice too."

"I'm sure you're little brother would love it if you gave him a nickname." Little Lauren smiled showing her big, pink gums, and blinked a few times.

"She's got your eyes," Luke stated.

"She's got your smile," Lorelai replied, they shared a short, sweet kiss before realizing Rory was but two feet away.

"Hey you…five," Ann said awkwardly as she entered the room.

"Aunt Ann!!" Rory shouted, she handed Lauren to Lorelai and hopped off the bed, right into Ann's open arms.

"Hey kiddo, long time no see, eh?"

"Too long Aunt Ann, way too long," Rory flashed her a smile and Ann kissed her cheek.

"Want to introduce me to your little brother and sister?" Rory nodded.

"This is William. William Ethan Danes," She pointed over to Lauren, "That's Lauren. Lauren Marie Danes."

"I see where the middle names came from, and the 'William', but where'd the 'Lauren' come from?"

"Um, Lauren was…my mother's name." Luke said, still looking down at the little boy in his arms. Will's bright blue eyes staring into Luke's.

"You're gonna be a great Dad there Lucas," Ann pointed out grinning mischievously.

"Ann," Luke warned.

"I just wanted to see if I could get away with it just this once…apparently not."

"You won't ever…ever, be able to get away with that. Only Lorelai – Only once in a while." Lorelai gasped.

"I-I-I what! Really? Finally." She stuttered excitedly, Luke flashed a smile and looked back down at his newborn son. "He likes you,"

"How can you tell?" Luke asked.

"He's quiet," Ann interjected.

"Ahh, I see." Luke replied with a nod. "Switch?" Luke asked Rory, who nodded and extended her arms to Lorelai, so she could take Lauren out of her arms.

* * *

**Okay. So, as most of you know, if you pay any attention to my author's notes - that I recently bought myself a new computer. I thought at first that I knew everything about it. But it started acting up. Once I fixed the first problem another arose. I can no longer use my Microsoft Office because my "trial" exprired. I had no idea it was a trial. I just thought computers came with it. I was wrong. So, until I save enough money to buy it, and pay for it. OR find a way around it, I'm out. I will try my hardest to post, but I don't know how frequent it'll be. I'm sorry, I truley am.**

♥ Alaina Rose 


	3. The most inconvenient times

Chapter Three : The most inconvenient times.

Attention: I am really, really sorry. I've had this and the next chapter written for a long time, but I put off sending it to my beta because I didn't think it was up to my newly raised standards – I still don't think it is, and it wasn't beta-ed because my dearest friend Mika is very busy, please forgive me.

A/N: I understand the naming the kids after the parents is completely overdone - but I couldn't resist. Honestly - who can?

Disclaimer: If it were, mine the show Everybody Hates Chris would be about Christopher Haden.

* * *

After receiving a phone calls hours after Lauren and William were born, the extremely agitated pair of elder Gilmore's set out for the hospital.

"We're looking for Lorelai Danes' room." Richard said, slightly out of breath because Emily practically dragged him from the car.

"Room Two Sixty-four. That's on the second floor. The elevator is that way," The kind receptionist pointed behind the Gilmore's.

"Thank you." Richard nodded, and slowly walked with Emily to the elevator.

"Richard, why would they wait until hours after those children were born to tell us? I mean they could have called us when she went into labor! That would

have been the smart thing to do. They should have called us, and told us when our grandchildren were ready to see the world."

"My, when you put it like that Emily, it seems so vile. Please choose your words more carefully, we are in a hospital. Lots of thoughts running though ones

mind. You mustn't say the wrong thing, it could end up twisted." Richard explained. "Especially when Lorelai is around,"

"I never knew where Lorelai got it from, but it was all your fault. That annoying dry humor. You're never expecting it but it's always there. You feel like

a complete idiot when you miss it." Emily complained. Richard smiled at her, and walked into the elevator.

* * *

**Hospital room.**

Lorelai, Luke, Rory and Ann were sitting in the room, awaiting the arrival of the Gilmore's.

"They're going to be mad, we didn't call them. It's inevitable at this point." Ann stated indirectly. The Gilmore's walked in, the room fell silent.

"Hello, Lorelai, Luke," Richard shook Luke's hand, "Congratulations you two," He said and kissed Lorelai's cheek awkwardly. Emily just stood in the doorway observing the interaction before joining the group.

"Mom, Dad, do you want me to take you to see them?" Emily nodded and moved out of the doorway so she could follow behind Lorelai and Richard. They walked through the almost empty hallways for a few minutes before reaching a large glass window, displaying the newborns. Lorelai pointed at Lauren and Will.

"What are their names?" Emily asked quietly, not taking her eyes of her gorgeous grandchildren.

"Lauren Marie, and William Ethan," Lorelai replied, this brought tears to Emily's eyes.

"Thank you, Lorelai."

"It's nothing; those kids will be honored to share names with you two,"

"Lorelai, were William and Lauren, Luke's parents names?" Richard asked, speaking up for the first time since they'd walked up to the window.

"Yes they were," Richard nodded, having heard all he needed to know.

"Was there a specific reason you put their names first?" Emily spat, seeming more like her now.

"Emily it is hardly the time for something like that, leave the girl alone."

"Where are they anyway? I don't see them here,"

"Lauren passed away when Luke was nine-"

"Where is his father then? Probably sitting at home watching a ball game or something! Lorelai I told you, you shouldn't have married someone like tha-"

"MOM! If you let me finish for once, William died right after Luke graduated high school. So naturally they couldn't be here today, is that okay with you? Does that match your standards well enough?!" Lorelai just walked away before things got too ugly.

"Now you've upset her, Emily. Excellent job, once again. Bravo," With that Richard left his wife and ran off after his daughter, who had run off crying in

the direction opposite Emily.

Emily just stood in the same spot, not wanting to move. Why hadn't she listened during all the conversations they'd had about Luke and his family. Did Lorelai

ever mention Luke's parents not being around? On more then one occasion, most likely. Emily just sat there for a while, trying her best to figure out where

she went wrong in her relationship with her daughter. When had she stopped listening? Or better yet, WHY, did she stop listening? She cared, she really did.

But, did she care enough? If she wanted to be included in Lorelai's life why did she act like she didn't want her there?

"Damnit," She said, not meaning to actually say it out loud.

"She's not going to forget about it this time, Emily." Luke said interrupting her thoughts.

"I know," She began, "and I'm sorry about your parents Luke. I really had no idea."

"Bull," He spat, "I've heard Lorelai mention it to you at least twice. Now, listen, I'm not trying to be disrespectful at all, but that was unforgivable. That

was like flat out telling her you don't listen. And it hurt her,"

"I know, you don't have to tell me when my own daughter is hurt, her eyes give it away."

"It hurt her horribly," Luke ignored her previous statement, "Not like the other times where she cried for a few minutes and then just moved on because she

knew it was inevitable, which it is but now...she's in the room balling. She won't stop. It's on you this time, she won't stop for me, or Richard, It's on you,

you have to pick up the pieces this time, and there's a whole mess of pieces. If you get what I mean,"

"I understand," Emily replied with a nod. Luke nodded as well, before walking away to attempt to console his wife for the time being, until Emily decided to

swallow her pride and do the right thing for once.

* * *

After Emily's little run-in with Luke she left the hospital, against her better judgment. She went home, crawled slowly up the stairs and walked up to

Lorelai's old room. She sat down on the bed, placed her head in her hands and began to cry. The first time she cried since Lorelai had left for Stars Hollow

eight years previously.

"I'm a horrible mother, she hates me..." She was too busy wallowing to notice Richard walk in and then out of the room.

---Hospital---

Luke and Ann sat in Lorelai's room listening to her sob, uncontrollably. No matter what they did, how hard they tried, she just wouldn't stop.

"Lorelai, do you want to hold Will? or Lauren?" Ann asked, trying whatever she could to help her sister. Lorelai only shook her head and shifted around on the uncomfortable bed.

After a few minutes, Luke couldn't take it anymore. He got up and walked over to the bed, leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, causing her to momentarily cease crying. "Lorelai," He whispered, "You have to stop crying okay? I don't like seeing you like this. I did everything in my power to help make this better, there's nothing else anyone can do. The Balls are in her court now," Lorelai grinned, "Don't say dirty it's too easy." She smiled again.

"Can - I - hold - Will - or - Lauren ..." She said shakily. Luke nodded, and kissed her forehead before walked over to the bassinets which were now located in the room, for more easy access.

"Which one?"

"Gimme Will," Luke nodded and brought the baby over to Lorelai, who stuck out her arms and cradled the baby lovingly. "He looks like you,"

"No, he doesn't. You can't tell yet, he's only a few hours old..."

"No, Luke, he really does look like you," Ann said, looking a little harder at the baby.

"He does no- okay, well, kind of. I guess..." Luke admitted, Lorelai smiled and continued to cradle Will.

"Okay," Ann began, "I'm gonna go home and finish studying for exams, call me if you need anything, kay?"

"Sure thing. Will we see you tomorrow?" Lorelai asked.

"Probably. Love you guys,"

"Love you too," Lorelai said.

"Talk to you later Ann," Luke replied, giving her a half wave before she walked out the door.

* * *

Yale

When Ann got back to her apartment it was almost empty. It wasn't until then that she noticed half of the things that filled her apartment before didn't belong to her. Oliver had pretty much furnished the place for her, and for that she was grateful. But now standing in the pretty much empty living room, she realized...she missed him. As much as she needed change, and she didn't want to be with him anymore, at the same time, she wanted someone around, she wanted what Lorelai and Luke had. She wanted that closure, the feeling that you know you're going to wake up next to someone in the morning. She just wanted to be loved. And she was, but she wanted more then just her family, everyone needs that...right? To feel needed, to be nurtured. She had that with Oliver, and she didn't appreciate it. He was the perfect guy, and she just pretty much pushed him out. Made him leave. She was a relationship ruin-er. Damn the Gilmore Curse.

When Ann finally made it past the living room, she walked into the bedroom, she could barely stand to be in there. So she grabbed her pillow and lied down on the couch, turned on the TV and just stared at the ceiling for a couple of minutes when she suddenly felt like she needed to do something. So she got up and walked into the kitchen, the one place Oliver hadn't really been in much. Neither of them could really cook so there wasn't much in there, but cleaning something made her feel useful, so she did the dishes, when something caught her eye. There was an envelope sitting on the kitchen counter. She rinsed the soap off her hands and opened the envelope, she immediately recognized Oliver's loopy script.

Dearest Ann,

I'm going to start off by saying, I love you. I always will. Just because things didn't quite work out with us, though I'm still not sure why, I will always love you. I want you to know that things did end on rough terms, but I don't want this to stop us from conversing in the future. If perhaps we are stuck sitting next to one another in a class, I don't want things to be completely awkward. We should be civil, and dare I say, pleasant to each other. Maybe we could even be friends, since, that is how our relationship began. Congratulate your sister for me, you mentioned that she was pregnant a few months ago, make sure she knows I wish her and her husband, Luke, well. As well as their children, if my memory serves me correct, I believe you said twins, so I wish them endless happiness with their newest additions.

You are one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me, just so you know. The first person I could completely trust in my life. Someone I could talk

to, and not feel insecure. I knew you wouldn't judge me, no matter what. And I thank you for that. I don't think I could possibly express how thankful I am

for that. It's hard to put it into words for me. Which is probably bad, seeing as I plan to pursue a career in journalism.

You know that I don't have many stable things in my life at this time, but you were one them. I knew I could count on you. You're very reliable Ann Marie

Gilmore. No if's and's or but's about it. You're a very stable person. My time with you was well spent.

Now, I'm afraid the movers, or shall I say, hungry students are here to assist me with my sudden move, so I must end this letter here. I wish you and your

family well, I hope our paths cross once again in the future when all of this is behind us. I love you Ann Marie Gilmore. I love you. That's never going to change, no matter what.

Sincerely,

Oliver Smith

and then, she broke down into tears. She did love him. And she probably sabotaged any chance she could have possibly had with him.

* * *

**Hospital(next morning)**

"Waaa, waa, waaaaaaa," The babies cried in unison.

"Shhh," Lorelai mumbled into her pillow. Luke who was already up went over to the bassinets as soon as he heard the kids crying.

"It's okay guys, daddy's here. Shhh," He kissed them both softly on the forehead and their crying ceased. When he walked away, the second he sat down the two began screaming again, he gave in again. Walked over to the cradles and looked down at them, they're abnormally bright blue eyes staring into his.

He knew at that moment, he was going to do okay. From the moment Lorelai and him found out they were going to have a baby, or as it turned out, babies, he was nervous. He was scared, and when he learned it was going to be twins, he was terrified. He didn't think he could do it. He thought he'd screw them up somehow.

Now, just looking into their innocent faces, there was no way they could ever be screwed up. The children of, in his eyes, the most perfect woman, and most sensible man, could never, ever, be in any way shape or form be screwed up. They couldn't be more perfect if they were children of a minister...okay, well all the Camden kids didn't all turn out so great but, it's the thought that counts right?

"Hey, what time is it?" Lorelai asked groggily.

"Four-thirty."

"They're yours..." She said, closing her eyes briefly again. Luke chuckled.

"Morning gorgeous," He greeted while he walked over and kissed her lightly.

"Mmm, morning." She replied between kisses. The twins cried out again, interrupting the adults. "Make it stop again," Lorelai smiled.

"I'll take Will, you take Lauren?" Lorelai nodded. Luke picked up his baby girl and brought her over to Lorelai, then went back over to pick up Will.

When the twins finally calmed down again, there was a soft knock on the door, "Mrs. Danes, there's someone here to see you," The nurse said.

"Okay...send 'em in," Lorelai smiled, every time someone called her Mrs. Danes her heart skipped a beat and she felt butterflies in her stomach, but her moment

was interrupted by...

"Hey, Lor," Lorelai's head shot up, only one person in her entire life had ever called her 'Lor', even after she repeatedly told said person to stop, they still

insisted on it.

"Why do you show up at the most inconvenient times..?" Lorelai whispered, to herself, and to Luke.

* * *

A\N : I have to tell you that I never originally intended to bring him in, he's just there for story purposes, for example… to make things right with his daughter again

to ... get hit by a bus.. ... things like that. Nothing too important, this is still a semi-fluffy story so, not to worry!

Reviews always bring a smile to my face, the good, bad, and everything in between! So keep 'em coming whatever they may say. It takes like four seconds out of your busy schedule, to click a button and type, "Nice. Update soon" I'll go for just, "nice" if you want. Doesn't matter to me. Whatever floats your boat Gilligan.

Shout out : Jenna W. Whatever floats your boat Gilligan...in the words of Lane Kim, "Wo-ho, good times."

Alaina Rose.


	4. You're welcome here, are you?

**Chapter Four: You're welcome here are you?**

A\N: Don't shoot, he's here for a purpose, a purpose which I'm sure you'll go for eventually, just let it unfold, and have faith in me, I won't let you down.

A\N 2: Do you want to see the twins as babies only or in a few chapters would you mind if I sped stuff up? I'm bad with time. I'm impatient.

I'm sorry it's so short.

* * *

The not so subtle visitor made his way deeper into the room, walked over to Lorelai's hospital bed where she resided, kissing her on the cheek, much to Luke

and Lorelai's disgust.

"So, I was in the neighborhood, and my mom told me you and your husband were having a baby, so I decided to come on down and pay a visit," Christopher said,

"When'd you two get hitched? When was the big day?" Christopher asked lamely.

"The neighborhood, huh." Lorelai muttered to herself, before looking up, "November Twentieth was the wedding." Lorelai said coldly, "Christopher you always have a hidden agenda, what is it this time?"

"No ulterior motive this time, Lor. I just wanted to see you and congratulate the two of you on your kid. And -"

"And..." Lorelai prompted.

"I wanted to see Rory."

"Do you remember what happened last time you wanted to see Rory?" Christopher looked down sheepishly, "I thought so. Now, I don't want to yell at you because

I don't want to have to deal with two sleepy crying kids right now, so I'm going to be calm, and talk to you like an adult." He nodded, "I don't want you just waltzing in every time you have a few minutes to see my kid, smile, say "hi I'm your dad" and then leave ten minutes later. That's not how it is. If you leave this time, I don't want you coming back until she's old enough to realize what an ass you are. Clear?"

"I can only stay for today," Christopher replied quietly.

"This is exactly what I mean! You're going to come here for ten minutes, make your appearance, and split. That is NOT how it's going to be. I won't allow it. Eight years ago, I was sitting in my room talking to Ann about Rory, she'd just found out I was pregnant, and she said that I shouldn't let you near her. She said you were irresponsible and you wouldn't be a positive role model for our kid. I told her regardless of your past , or how irresponsible you were I would never, ever keep your daughter from you. I'm going to have to go back on that. I'm going to tell you right now that you're not allowed to see her unless she specifically asks about you,"

"Lor, you can't do that..."

"Watch me. I guess I should also tell you she'll legally be Luke's soon." Luke who had made his way over to the bassinets turned around now to watch the interaction now that he was brought into the conversation.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Christopher raised his voice.

"He's going to adopt her, she asked for it. She already calls him Dad so it makes sense, it's what she wants."

"She calls him Dad," He spun around, "She calls you Dad?" Luke nodded. "He put her up to it, I can tell, she wouldn't just voluntarily call some random guy Dad,"

"Luke is not just some random guy, Christopher. Beside the point how the hell would you know? You've spent a grand total of an hour with her. Over Nine months ago, she doesn't need someone unstable like you in her life anyway, just leave now, make it easier on yourself. Find another family to torture, coz we're done."

"I'm going to get a lawyer and I'm going to fight you on this. I'm going to get joint custody, you'll be sorry you did this Lor, you will be." Christopher turned around and walked towards the door, Luke stood in his way. "Move."

"I highly suggest NOT finding a lawyer, and just laying off the situation. I'm sure if Rory asks about you Lorelai will definitely let her call you or even

fly her out to wherever it is you live, to see you. She couldn't just block you out of your own daughters life. I know Lorelai, probably better then you do

she wouldn't do that. She's to nice a person." Christopher shook his head smugly.

"You wanna know what I highly suggest? That you keep yourself out of this, okay?"

"I tried to be nice but apparently that doesn't work with asses like you. So when I count to five, I want you out of here." Christopher just stood there. "One." Christopher walked passed Luke, down the hall and out the hospital doors. Luke walked back over to Lorelai sitting back down on the edge of the bed and kissed her forehead. "Lorelai, you okay?"

"He can't take her away...can he?" She pleaded.

"No hon, I don't think so."

"But he can try?"

"I don't want to lie to you." Luke stated. Lorelai just nodded and scoot closer to him, he leaned down giving her access to put her head in the crook of his neck, wrapping her arms around him.

After a few minutes, the couple separated and Luke sat back down in the chair waiting for the twins to wake up.

"Looks like they've inherited something from both of us already," Lorelai pointed out.

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"You can sleep through anything, and they just slept through a quite loud shouting match from hell, and they don't get up early, like me. Not morning people, that's a good sign."

"Hey, things change. They could become early risers."

"They better not." Lorelai warned.

* * *

**Stars Hollow**

The whole town was setting up a huge party to welcome the newest residents. Even Taylor was in on it. Everyone was doing something to contribute, Sookie, of course was catering. Patty was in charge of entertainment, and Babbette was in charge of decorating. Taylor was just there to make sure everything was

"Up to code,"

"Sookie, when are mom and the babies going to be allowed out of the hospital? It's been two days already."

"Later today, sweetie. Can you stir that cake batter for me?" Sookie asked, pointing to the cookie batter sitting a few feet from Rory.

"Why does it take so long to take them out of the hospital?" Rory asked while she stirred or rather, attempted to stir the thick cookie batter.

"They have to make sure they're all healthy. Which they are, but the doctors want to double check to make sure absolutely everything is perfect with the babies. Then they'll all come home." Rory nodded and continued what she was doing.

* * *

**Final Authors Note:**

**Would anyone be extremely angry with me if I skipped ahead, I'll dedicate the next chapter to the twins life as kids, including all their firsts and things like that and then the next chapter they'll be about 15 years old? I don't have enough drama that hasn't already been done in my head for this story. And I don't want to end the story so soon, plus, I do have ideas for the twins teenage years. Early teens through college years… I have thoughts that go pretty far into the future but I just want to keep people interested and not bore you with fluffy nonsense.**

**Let me know Please. Thank you.**

**Alaina Rose. **


	5. Chchchchanges

**Chapter Five: Ch-ch-ch-changes **

A/N's: Thank you for those of you who gave input on my time line issues!

Special thank you to Bianca89 for your amazing ideas, I think I may just use some of them.

I've decided not to go too far into the future just yet. I'll stick to the _now_ for a little while.

Author Responses for:

Sarah – Thank you, I appreciate your input and your ideas. It's more appreciated then you know.

LorLukeAlways – The majority of the reviewers said to keep with this timeline, so I will. Thank you, compliments make my day, especially ones like that. Ha-ha! While that would be a very entertaining scene to read and write I don't know if I know enough about the situation to write it. I could always use the Luke/Anna court thing as a model…I'm not sure. You'll find out in due time though.

Disclaimer: Not yet I am however working on it.

Does anyone else really like Richard? I just love his character.

* * *

"You two ready to go home?" Lorelai asked the twins as she laid little Will in his car seat, the baby boy squealed in reply causing Lorelai to smile broadly. "Aww," She whispered while she fastened the bar that would keep her son from falling out of the seat. "Luke, do you need some help over there?"

Luke was struggling to put Lauren in her seat not that Lauren was being of any assistance. She was squirming around as if Luke wasn't ever going to let her out.

"No, she just needs to calm down." He said softly, trying to soothe the baby. Lorelai laughed and leaned over to assist her husband. "I didn't need help," Luke insisted after Lorelai securely fastened her daughter in her seat.

"Of course not,"

"I didn't. I could have gotten her in there by myself. It wasn't that difficult."

"Right, I know." Lorelai smiled as she looked out the window.

"Really, she's three days old I could have put her in without help."

"Luke, I know. You don't have to be so persistent. I believe you."

"Good." The ride home was short, with minimal interruptions from the quiet twins. When the arrived at _The Crap Shack,_ as Lorelai called it, they went inside to see 75 percent of the Stars Hollow population inside.

"Welcome Home!" They all shouted in unison.

"Hey sugah!" Babbette rasped, "Let me see one of these cuties!" Babbette took Will from Lorelai and held him close. "He's just darling! I love him! He looks like Luke as a baby. I might just have to take him home with me! He's gorgeous! If he's lucky he just might end up with Luke's ass too!"

"Okay, Lorelai you wanna take him back now?"

"Sure, sorry Babbette." Lorelai took her son back into her own arms. "Hon, have you seen Rory or Sookie yet?" She asked Luke.

"I think they went into the kitchen, I'm sure they'll be out in a second." As if on cue Sookie and Rory came out holding a huge cake and an oversized mug of coffee.

"Angels, absolute angels!" Lorelai said when they came over and gave her the coffee. It took her a second to balance both the coffee and the baby, but she got it after a second.

After Sookie put the cake down she asked Lorelai, "Can I steal this precious baby from you for a little while?" Jokingly.

"Oh, sure, but please be sure to return him when you're finished." Lorelai replied in the same fashion handing her son over to Sookie.

The party went well, Ann and Luke's close friend Bryan both came and began talking.

"You're Lorelai's sister right?" Bryan asked, putting a hand through is messy (but still sexy) dirty blonde hair.

"Yeah, Ann." She paused, "You and Luke went to high school together if I'm not mistaken.."

"Yeah, we were on the track team together. He was always better then me though, always beat me by seven seconds even, it was crazy. No matter how long or short the course was it was always seven seconds flat."

_Seven seconds…Yeah, that's a whole lot of time..._ Ann said to herself, confused at the difference that seven seconds made.

"It doesn't seem like a lot, but it was…" Bryan clarified, noticing the blank expression on Ann's face. "I'm sorry, I'm boring you. Not a sports girl I'm assuming?"

"No, not really. You weren't boring me at all. I was just confused is all."

"How would you like to go to dinner this weekend?" Bryan asked, quickly changing the subject.

"I'd love to,"

"Do you go to school or?"

"Yeah, I go to Yale,"

"Wow, impressive," Ann nodded shyly, "I went to U-Conn. Nothing special but, it was good." He looked down at his watch, "Hey, look, I have to get going but you write down your address and phone number and I'll call you later?"

"Yeah, we'll talk…"

"Kay, you write your stuff down, I'm gonna go say goodbye to Luke and Lorelai."

"Okay." Bryan got up and walked into the living room to say goodbye.

"Luke, I'm gonna head out, congrats, your kids are gorgeous and quiet you got lucky. I'll call you later this week to catch up."

"Thanks for coming, means a lot to both of us." The guys shook hands, "Talk to you later this week." Bryan nodded his head and walked over to Lorelai.

"Lorelai, congratulations. Your kids are perfect. I'd love to stay but unfortunately I've got to work. Someone has to pay the bills."

"Okay Bryan, thanks for coming, hey, before you go…were you talking to my sister?"

"Um, yeah,"

"Don't hurt her. Please," Lorelai pleaded, "A crying Ann isn't fun to deal with."

"I won't Lorelai. I promise."

"Can I get that in writing?"

"I'll talk to you later. Hey, your daughter Rory has she ever studied the dictionary?"

"Not to my knowledge,"

"She used at least six words I've never heard before! That kid's going places…" He said on his way out.

After everyone left Sookie, Ann, and Rory were left to clean up the mess after insisting that both Luke and Lorelai watch over their new additions.

* * *

**A few days later**

"We should really jump on the adoption thing soon, before Christopher tries to get custody or something." Luke said one afternoon while he and Lorelai were going through bills and discussing family matters.

"Yeah, I hadn't thought about him trying for custody, he wouldn't would he?"

"He could try – you know him better than I do though."

"Yeah.." She got up to tend to a crying Lauren, "That's what I'm afraid of," The phone started ringing, "Luke grab that?"

"Sure," Luke put his papers down and got up to answer the phone, "Hello,"

"Hello, Luke. It's Richard, I was wondering if I could meet the two of you for lunch this afternoon. There's a matter I think we should discuss."

"I'd have to check with Lorelai, and we'd have to bring the twins…"

"I'd love to see the twins so that's fine, you check with Lorelai and call me back in ten minutes, I'll talk to you then, goodbye."

"Yeah, bye." Lorelai came back downstairs with Lauren in her arms.

"Someone wants you," She said. "I swear she doesn't like me, she's gonna be a daddy's girl."

"Your father wants to meet us for lunch." He said, taking Lauren from his wife.

"Um, why?"

"He didn't say, just said there was a matter we all needed to discuss,"

"Okay, you want me to call him back or…?"

"I'll call him."

"Kay, I'll get the twins dressed," An hour and a half later the Danes family was off to have lunch with Richard. They drove about ten minutes to a small restaurant in Litchfield they agreed to meet halfway. Richard arrived first, but Lorelai and Luke were soon to follow, only eight minutes late a record for Lorelai Gilmore-Danes.

"Hi, Dad." Lorelai greeted, kissing him on the cheek.

"Hello Lorelai, Luke." The men shook hands. "So," Richard began as the couple sat down, "It's been brought to my attention that you two are planning on having Luke adopt Rory. Is that true?"

"Yes sir," Luke replied.

"I've also been informed that Christopher Haden wants to fight for custody. Have you heard anything to the contrary?"

"We haven't heard anything in regards to that matter at all," Luke, answered, for the two of them. Lorelai was just looking down with her left hand massaging her temple.

"No? Well, then, I'll assume you haven't heard who he's got as a lawyer. He has managed to snag Charles Smithson. One of the few top custody lawyers in Hartford. An excellent liar as well, he could convince anyone anything. I went to school with him, I should know. You're going to have to get someone damn good if you want a fighting chance."

"Could his absence throughout Rory's entire life effect the judges' decision at all?" Lorelai finally spoke up.

"It will most likely play a vital role in this case. Depending on the judge it's hard to tell." Richard explained.

"Okay,"

"Christopher called us yesterday. He wanted our help. He asked for character witness letters and assistance in his fight. Naturally, both your mother and I, without hesitation, declined. It looks to me like he's going to fight to the end Lorelai, you can't let him take that girl away from the two of you. It wouldn't be in her best interest and Christopher can barely take care of himself. Let alone a child. As much as Rory should be allowed to spend time with her biological father – it shouldn't be under these circumstances. She should not be put through this. She's too young."

"Thank you for turning him down." Lorelai said quietly, taking in everything her father dished out. Instead of replying, Richard nodded and sipped his coffee.

"I am willing to help you choose an appropriate lawyer and help with anything I can. I want you two to win this. Rory deserves a father that won't run away at the first sign on trouble. I was clearly wrong when I said Christopher and you should get married when Rory was born. I should have looked deeper into the future, considered your feelings…there's a lot I could have done to help the situation, but I acted on an impulse and said what I thought was right at the time. I shouldn't have done that."

"Thank you. For everything." Lorelai said whole-heartedly, "I think that's the most I've ever heard you talk in such a short period of time." She said to lighten the mood.

"It was necessary. I thought you deserved to hear it all."

"We should get a lawyer soon then, get a jump on things." Luke pointed out.

"That would be the smartest thing to do, yes. Now, as far as that goes, I've come up with a few names that could help you out. They're all expensive but I've talked to your mother and we're happy to pay for it. Rory deserves the best, and you two are by far the best and only option. So, Michael Smith, James D. Richardson, Christine Marks, and Charles Wallace. If you haven't heard anything about them I can give a brief description,"

"Descriptions would be nice,"

"Michael has been in the business for ten years, had over two-hundred cases and won more than half."

"Okay…"

"James has been a lawyer for thirty-five years, had over nine-hundred-fifty cases and won three fourths of them."

"Getting better,"

"Christine has only six years of experience but has already had two-hundred-sixty-nine cases and won all but one of them."

"Impressive."

"Charles has had twenty years and one-thousand cases and won more than three fourths."

"I'd say between Charles and Christine." Lorelai decided.

"That Christine Marks was it? She's won all but one case – she's got to be pretty good." Luke said.

"Ahh and the most expensive. That doesn't matter though; we're willing to pay for anything." Richard pointed out.

"We should choose now right?" Richard nodded, Lorelai reached out for the papers containing the information on each lawyer Richard handed them over. After reading both statistics papers, she handed them to Luke.

"I'd have to say Ms. Marks. She did win all but one case. That's pretty impressive." Luke said after reading both papers.

"We should definitely meet her before we make a decision."

"I'll make an appointment." Richard noted.

"Good," Luke and Lorelai said in unison.

* * *

**Hartford Connecticut, Law Offices of Charles Smithson**

Christopher Haden sat in the office of one of the top rated custody case lawyers in Connecticut. He had no idea how he had gotten here, or what he was doing really. The lawyer had told him to, "Just sit pretty, kay? I'll take care of it all," in his thick New York accent. Christopher did briefly remember going to his parents for the money for the lawyer. His father, uncharacteristically obliged, giving him over 300,000 dollars to attempt to win his daughter that he had seen and spoken to twice in a total of eight years. His father probably only gave it to him to shut him up and make him leave, not many people can stand to be in a room with Christopher Haden for more than a few minutes; you start to zone out. Especially when he's talking.

"How is the situation looking Mr. Smithson?" Christopher spoke finally.

The agitated lawyer looked up from the papers in front of him, "Do you want the cold-hard truth son?" Charles asked.

"Uh, sure."

"It looks to me like you're an ass." He stared bluntly. "You really should have thought a little more about jumping into a suit like this. Your chances of winning are pretty slim." Christopher looked down at his hands.

"We could make something up though right? I could tell them that I've been around…"

"Have you ever been involved in a law suit?" Christopher shook his head. "Have you ever seen Law and Order?"

"No,"

"Judge Judy?"

"Who hasn't seen Judge Judy? That lady's mean."

"Good, okay, in the beginning of each case both sides have to swear on the bible to say the truth. You remember that part?"

"Vaguely."

"Okay, the bailiff says, 'do you swear to state the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god?'"

"Yeah." Christopher said, annoyed and still not getting the point.

"Do you want to swear to tell the truth on the holy bible and then lie? Is that wise son?" Christopher went silent and Charles went back to his papers.

* * *

**New Haven, Connecticut – Yale **

(On the phone)

"So, Saturday night?" Ann asked Bryan, confirming their date for the weekend.

"Yeah – Seven-Thirty,"

"Sounds good," Ann smiled broadly.

"Okay, I'll call you tomorrow," Bryan replied.

"Okay, bye."

"Bye."

* * *

A/N: I suddenly got a burst of inspiration. There will be more twin stuff in the next chapter I swear.

Please review, they inspire me to write FASTER!

Alaina Rose.


	6. Dopey Falls On His Ass

**Chapter Six: Dopey Falls On His Ass**

A\N: I am on a writing spree…I even started a completely new story. Its' got kinks – but it will be up sometime in March…maybe early April.

The highlight of my day, review wise – From LorLukealways "can't wait to see Dopey fall on his ass". This quote inspired this chapter's title.

Thank you all for the reviews and especially your corrections – feel free to always correct me, it lets me know you're actually paying attention! Makes me feel special.!

For those of you interested: I am currently working on the next chapter of **_Could It Be Something More? _**I know it's been a while, but I had some computer troubles. Keep a look out for it!

Disclaimer: Nothing still, I am working on it though. I'll keep you updated.

* * *

**Gilmore-Danes House – 6:30AM**

Lorelai and Luke were sleeping soundly in bed, having been up most of the night tending to Lauren and Will, so when the doorbell rang at 6:30 they were less than pleased.

"This better be good," Lorelai, mumbled wrapping her pink robe around her body.

"Mmm-hmmm," Luke agreed pulling a tight white shirt over his head. Single file they walked down the stairs, Luke opened the door to reveal a man in a suit.

"Hi, I apologize for the inconvenient time, but it's the only time I could get away; I'm here to inform you that you're being sued for joint custody of the minor Lorelai Leigh Gilmore. The hearing will be next Thursday at 1:15PM in Hartford City Hall. All of the information is in this letter. Good day." Then the man was gone.

"Good day to you too," Lorelai said after Luke closed the door. "Read the letter please,"

_Mrs. Lorelai V. Danes and Mr. Lucas W. Danes_

_We are required to inform you that on Thursday, February 21,_

_There will be a hearing for the grant of _Sole Custody_ of the _

_Minor, Lorelai Leigh Gilmore to her father, Mr. Christopher Hayden. _

_You are not required to obtain a lawyer but it is strongly suggested if _

_You wish to protest the matter._

_Signed,_

_Charles Smithson _

_Christopher Hayden_

"Are you kidding me?" Lorelai burst out, somewhat loudly, "He wants sole custody?"

"Is he completely stupid?" Luke asked.

"Apparently." Lorelai wrapped her arms around Luke's torso, "he's not going to win right? He can't take her away from us. Sole custody…he's crazy! He's stupid, joint I could understand but you can't take a girl away from her mother, it's the equivalent to homicide."

"I don't quite think its homicide, babe. It's close though, it's close."

"I'm not the perfect example, maybe I would have turned out better if you took me away from my mother…but normal little girls with semi-normal mother's should not be separated!"

"Shh, if we want any more sleep today we have to be quiet," Luke pointed out.

"I know. I'm sorry. I'm done. Let's sleep."

"I didn't know there were that many sentences that could be constructed from two words."

"Me either!"

"Come on, stop."

"No thanks."

"Lorelai,"

"Yes Luke?"

"Okay, that's enough."

"But why?"

"Bed, now!"

"Fine, then!"

"Lorelai!"

"I swear that one was unintentional. A complete accident." Lorelai chucked on their way upstairs. Just as Luke lied back down and Lorelai took off her robe and joined him, a loud, ear-wrenching scream come from the monitor. "Are you fricken kidding me?"

"Probably the doorbell."

"It's Christopher's fault."

"How?"

"By extension…think for a second…" He did, "get it now?"

"Yes, sorry. I'm a little slow, I think I got a total of fifteen minutes sleep."

"What is this, role reversal?" Lorelai asked, dragging Luke out of the room and in to the twins' nursery. The couple didn't get any more sleep after that, the twins were up for the day.

"It's your fault they're up." Lorelai said when they were playing with the kids after breakfast.

"How?"

"It's your part of the chromosomes that make them get up early."

"You could always go back to sleep. I can handle them for a little while." Luke reasoned.

"Yes, but then – there's a chance I could miss something."

"Miss something?" Luke asked, clearly confused.

"Yeah, like a first." Lorelai replied as if what she was saying was completely obvious.

"A first?"

"Yeah, like first smile, word, cough, burp…something like that."

"You don't want to miss their first burp?"

"Actually no, I wouldn't really mind being absent for that one – but not the point. I don't want to miss anything important."

"Okay, crazy lady." William looked up at Luke when he said that and smiled, showing off his pink gums.

"See. I didn't want to miss something like that," Lorelai said, smiling herself. Luke nodded holding the baby boy just a little closer.

_Meanwhile – Next door…_

(On the phone)

"There was a man in a suit at their door?" Ms. Patty asked Babbette.

"Yeah! He was all dressed up, and it was early." Babbette replied.

"Did you hear anything?"

"Naw, but I do know that they've been talkin' to Lorelai's father. Something about a lawyer, …this could be big Patty! Big!" She emphasized "big!"

"Keep me informed honey,"

"Alright, talk to yah later Patty,"

"Bye,"

* * *

**Gilmore Mansion**

Emily and Richard sat at either side of the oversized dining room table, both quietly eating grapefruits.

"You made an appointment for Lorelai and Luke with Christine Marks right?"

"Yes, it's tomorrow afternoon. I'm going to tag along, would you like to join us?"

"No thank you, I just wanted to make sure you made the appointment." Emily said, taking another bite of her grapefruit. "Richard is your grapefruit sugared?"

"No, Emily, it's just fine." Richard replied, looking up from his New York Times.

"Mine is sugared…Greta! Greta! Did you sugar my grapefruit?"

"No ma'am," The nervous made replied, visibly shaking.

"Are you shaking? It was a simple question Greta. There isn't any need to shake like that." The maid nodded franticly. "Stop shaking!" The maid nervously skipped away. "I swear, finding good help these days…" Richard sighed and went back to his paper.

_Ring – Ring_

"Gilmore residence," Greta answered.

"Hi, can I speak to Richard please?"

"Who's calling please?"

"Um, their daughter Lorelai,"

"Yes ma'am." Greta brought the phone to the table, "Your daughter Lorelai is on the phone, she wants to speak with you Mr. Gilmore,"

"Thank you," Richard took the phone from the maid, "Hello,"

"Hey, we got a letter from Christopher and his lawyer this morning…he wants sole custody."

"Has he lost his mind?" Richard asked coolly.

"I don't know."

"He can't win this. It's impossible, he barley knows the child, he can't possibly care for her all the time. And taking a young girl away from her mother? That's preposterous! Don't worry yourself over this, he has nothing to fall back on. He lives in California in a small apartment. Not suitable for any child, let alone Rory."

"I know."

"He doesn't have a fighting chance Lorelai. You shouldn't worry yourself. It's not worth it, at all."

"Okay," Lorelai replied, tearing up, "Dad…you can't let him take her away. I…I can't do anything without her; that kid is my life. She's little but…I just couldn't possibly get on without her."

"I know Lorelai, I know." Richard took off his glasses and rubbed his temple, "Lorelai do not get all worked up about it. Christopher does not have a chance at winning this."

"I know but…"

"No, Lorelai you listen to me. Christopher has been absent for every single important event in that girls life, and I'll be damned if he wins this. He's met her once. Spent a total of one day with her. He's irresponsible, unreliable, and nothing but a pushover. You hear me?"

"Okay – but…"

"Lorelai Gilmore." He said sternly.

"Danes."

"What?"

"I changed my name, I told you that."

"You changed your name? I thought you said you said you'd never change your name, I could have sworn,"

"Why do you think we're changing Rory's last name?"

"I don't know Lorelai, perhaps because you're you. You do crazy things all the time."

"Gee, thanks Dad!" Lorelai smiled, "I'm gonna go, Lauren's being fussy,"

"She's going to be just like you…"

"Bye Dad,"

"Goodbye Lorelai."

* * *

**Charles Smithson, Law Offices**

"Mr. Smithson, Christopher Hayden is here to see you."

The lawyer sighed and reluctantly said, "Send the imbecile in then," The secretary let out a small giggle before exiting and sending Christopher in, "Can I help you Mr. Hayden? I thought we covered everything yesterday."

"I wasn't able to get any character witness letters."

"First off, it's Character Reference. Second, you got nothing? A sticky note could work you know, something small, doesn't have to be formally written or anything."

"I got nothing. My mother told me I shouldn't be fighting for custody at all."

Charles pushed his glasses that had fallen to the tip of his nose back up to rest on the bridge. "Look, Mr. Hayden, I know as a lawyer I should tell you this but I'm going to be honest with you. Your chances of winning this are very, very slim. Backing out would be the best choice for you at his point."

"But –"

"Why exactly do you want to win this case? From the information I've gathered you've barely spent ten minute with the girl."

"I don't want him to adopt her!" Christopher yelled, standing up and slamming his hands on the desk like a child.

"Calm down, it was but a simple question."

"No! I can't calm down, he can't adopt her, I've tried to be around more! I have! And then she just goes off and marries him and then, I came to see my daughter again and she breaks it to me that she's not going to be my daughter anymore. That _he's_ adopting her. 'She already calls him Dad, Christopher' God, sometimes…I just can't…"

"Mr. Hayden, sit down. I'm sorry that you're family is having difficulties, I'm sure it's not easy, but that's no reason to take the girl away from her mother and step-father that she seems to be attached to. I will continue to assist you, however, winning this and obtaining custody of your daughter isn't going to solve any issues you have with them. From what you told me your ex isn't going stop fighting. I believe you mentioned her being stubborn, stubborn people rarely give up." He stated dryly.

"I know." Chris said, sitting down.

"Okay, don't worry about the character _reference_ letters; you'll do without them I suppose. I'll see you Thursday afternoon."

"Fine." And with that, Christopher left the office.

* * *

**Next day - **

"Thank you so much for watching her Babbette," Lorelai said, while she dropped Rory off so she and Luke could meet with the lawyer.

"Sure thing sugah, I love Rory, you know that! We're gonna have a blast! Are yah sure yah can't tell me what your doin' though?"

"Well, we could, but we're trying to keep it under wraps for a while. When it's over with, we'll fill you in. I promise." Lorelai checked her watch, "Alright, we've got to go. Bye hon, we won't be long."

"Fine, but please, please, please tell me where you're going!" Rory pleaded. "Why can Lauren and Will go but not me!?"

"We'll talk when Luke and I come back okay, babe?"

"Fine. Bye." Rory sulked away leaving a confused Babbette and guilty Lorelai behind.

"Bye sweets."

"I'll see yah later sugah, don't worry about Rory, I'll cheer her up for yah. Just as long as you promise to tell me what's goin' on!"

"Thanks Babbette. You'll know in due time. We haven't even told Rory what's going on and it involves her. So, yeah. I can't be late – bye," With that Lorelai joined Luke in the Jeep. "We have to tell Rory soon, it's killing her not knowing what's going on and you know I hate keeping things from her. I tell that kid everything!" Lorelai said, buckling her seatbelt.

"Shh, Will's sleeping; I know, I know, but we mutually decided that she we shouldn't tell her until we go to the hearing. Until we see exactly what the deal is, she shouldn't be burdened. Remember that? You said you didn't want to worry her. It was your idea." Luke whispered as he pulled out of the driveway and started driving toward Hartford. The ride took just about thirty-five minutes. "Are they supposed to be so quiet?" Luke asked, while he unbuckled Will from his car seat.

"Rory was… most babies aren't though. We got lucky," Lorelai looked down for a moment, "Haha, dirty," Luke rolled his eyes.

"Get all that out now, coz you won't be able to do that in there,"

"Dirty!" Lorelai squealed

"How so?"

"We-"

"Never mind, just…go in," Luke said unfolding the two-seater stroller for Will and Lauren. When they went in to the building Richard was already there, ready and waiting.

"Hey Dad," Lorelai greeted to get his attention.

"Hello Lorelai, Luke…William, Lauren." He said looking down at the twins who waved their small fists in reply. "They're beautiful, you two got lucky,"

"Dirty!" Lorelai whispered with a grin.

"Are we ready to go in, or…?" Luke asked.

"Yes, we were just waiting for you." Richard replied. As if on cue, a young, petite woman with hazel eyes and long, wavy brown hair approached the group.

"Hi, are you the Mr. and Mrs. Danes?" The woman asked.

"Yes, we are." Lorelai said with a smile.

"Well hello then! I am Christine Marks, Mr. Gilmore here has filled me in on the extent of most everything – now we can sit down and discuss specifics and a game plan if you want." Christine said, leading them into her large office. "So your suit is against your," she pointed to Lorelai, "daughter's father, correct? A Mr. Christopher Hayden as I understand."

"Yes, that's right." Lorelai replied with a straight unemotional expression.

"He's trying you for sole custody…" Lorelai nodded. "and he hasn't played an active role in her life."

"He was absent for the first, roughly eight years of her life."

"Does your daughter seem to take to Mr. Hayden?" Christine asked.

"She's only met him once; she tried to connect with him but he was in and out before she could count to ten."

"She only met him once? Is there a specific reason he's fighting for custody? It doesn't seem right."

"Luke and I recently got married and we're going to have Luke adopt Rory, my daughter, and Christopher found out about it. He tends to get jealous. Initially we thought he would try for partial custody, that way we would have to consult him before we had Luke adopt her. We never expected _this._" Lorelai said, before leaning over to pick up Lauren who was fussing in the seat while her brother sat silently sleeping. Lorelai stroked the girls head to soothe her. It worked and she was quiet again.

"If the judge has any type of intellect, they won't need a character reference or anything like that, which is usually essential for winning a custody case, but given the circumstances it won't be necessary. All you two really need to do is show up. If there is anything else I need I will give you a call. Sound good?"

"Sure, that sounds great. Thank you Ms. Marks, we'll see you on Thursday."

"It was nice meeting you Mrs. Danes, Mr. Danes. Mr. Gilmore, it was a pleasure, I'll see you all Thursday."

* * *

**Later That Night.**

On the ride home from the attorneys office Lorelai and Luke agreed that they would sit Rory down and explain the situation to her. At first, Luke was reluctant to agree, saying it was "hard enough having a unreliable father, but telling her he wants to take her away too…are you sure you want to tell her?" Lorelai countered with, "What happens if we lose and he takes her and she has no idea what the hell's going on," Luke said nothing after that, he just continued driving.

So now, they were sitting her down to tell her.

"Rory, babe, you know how Luke was going to adopt you?"

"Uh-huh,"

"Well, your father found out about it-"

"Mom, Dad already knew…" Rory replied, thinking Lorelai was talking about Luke.

"She means Christopher," Luke explained, "he found out and now he wants custody of you, do you know what that means?" Rory shook her head.

"It means he wants to take you from us to raise you by himself." Noticing the worried expression spread across the girls face, she quickly added, "don't worry though, we're going to fight him on it." Rory's eyes began to well up, "Come here baby," Lorelai whispered, opening her arms. Rory got up and ran to her mother; they sat silently like that for a few minutes. Just holding each other. Luke rubbed his girls' backs trying to soothe the tears of his stepdaughter and comfort his wife, so she wouldn't break down as well. "It's gonna be okay sweets, it's gonna be okay." Lorelai cooed, stroking Rory's hair but Rory continued crying into her mother's shoulder, muttering every so often, "I won't leave…" repeatedly.

* * *

**Thursday Afternoon**

"Maybe I should call Sookie again,"

"Lorelai, if you keep annoying Sookie she's going to think you don't trust her. Just relax," Luke, Lorelai and Rory were on their way to the city hall, everyone was nervous and barely talking. Rory hadn't uttered a word since they got in the car which was unusual for someone with her vocal capabilities.

"Fine," Lorelai sighed, defeated. "So, Rory, you know the plan, we all go in and the judge will say hello to you, he or she will want to talk to you for a few minutes without us. You just tell him the truth and everything will be fine. Sound good?"

"Mmhmm," She muttered and nodded her head. Lorelai and Luke shared a worried look. When they arrived, they got out of the car slowly. Walking snail-like until they reached the huge glass double doors.

"Babe, you're going to have to actually formulate sentences when you talk to the judge." Lorelai explained.

"I know, I will."

"Four words, it's an improvement I suppose," Lorelai whispered to Luke, who rolled his eyes and took her hand in reply. When they got inside Christine and Richard greeted them. "Hi Dad, hello Christine."

"Hello Lorelai. Rory!" He said opening his arms to the girl who happily came over and wrapped her grandfather in a long hug. After the rest of the 'hello's', the judge who introduced herself as, "Judge O'Conner" took Rory by the hand and led her into a spacious office where they would talk.

"Hello, Rory. I just need to ask you a few questions, sound good?" The young judge said.

"Sure," Rory replied nonchalantly.

"Okay, can you tell me about Christopher, your Dad?"

"I don't know much about him. Mom said he lives in California. That's pretty much it."

"How often do you see him?"

"I've only seen him once…or twice if you count when I was a baby. But I only remember seeing him once. He came for some of the day and then had to leave for California again. It's like he only comes around when it's most convenient to him. Mom said he loves me, but I think he has a funny way of showing it."

"Can you tell me about your mother?"

"What do you want to know?" Rory smiled.

"What's your favorite thing to do with your mom?" The judge asked, dually noting the smile that came across Rory's face when her mother was mentioned.

Rory thought for a second, "We have movie nights sometimes, we'll pick a bunch of movies out and eat mallow mars and popcorn and watch them 'till we fall asleep!"

"That sounds like fun! What do you think of Luke?"

"I love Luke, he's great. He makes my mom happy. He's perfect." She said.

"Luke is…nice to you? Does he yell at you or anything like that?"

"He's never raised his voice to any of us. He's more than nice to me."

"Would you ever want to live with your father?"

Rory shook her head, "No." She said simply.

"Why is that?" Judge O'Conner asked.

"Just before mom, Luke and I were going to be happy with the twins and Luke was going to adopt me; he came and messed it all up."

"Thank you sweetheart, lets go back out there so you can sit with your grandpa, okay?" Rory nodded and hopped off the chair. When they came out of the office Rory ran to her mother who tried her best to pick her up, but stumbled and turned to Luke to steady her.

"Jeez kid, what _do_ we feed you!?" Lorelai said while kissing her daughter on the cheek. "How'd it go?"

"Good," Rory replied

"Mr. and Mrs. Danes are you ready to go in?" the bailiff asked.

"Sure," She turned back to Rory, "Your gonna stay with Grandpa while we go in and take care of everything."

"Kay," When Lorelai put Rory down she ran to her grandfather who pulled her up and set her on his knee.

"Ready?" Lorelai asked Luke.

He pulled her hand into his and kissed her temple, "Ready if you are,"

"How are you doing Lorelai?" Christine asked.

"Nervous, but we'll be okay." Lorelai explained as she and Luke sat down. They sat in silence for a moment before Christopher and Mr. Smithson arrived.

"We're sorry for being so late your honor."

"Just sit down." Judge O'Conner demanded, sitting down herself. "I herby bring to order the Custody Case of Mr. and Mrs. Lucas and Lorelai Danes and Mr. Christopher Hayden. I've looked over every bit of information given to me by Mr. Smithson and Ms. Marks and unless you two can change my mind, I've made my decision."

"Mr. Hayden is fully prepared to take care of his daughter, he's purchased a town house in Boston and his absence for the first few years of her life shouldn't in any way inflict your decision." Christopher's lawyer said.

"I'd like to point out that it was not only a few years that Mr. Hayden here was away, it was the child's entire young life. He's met her a total of one time." Christine noted.

"Point taken, but his past shouldn't have anything to do with his future. He's changed, he's a better person."

"I can take care of her," Christopher interrupted.

"Mr. Hayden let your lawyer take care of it please." Judge O'Conner disciplined. Christopher huffed scooting down in his chair and crossing his arms like a four year old.

"Mrs. Danes has taken care of her daughter since she was sixteen without help, they've formed a bond, and what kind of person would you be to tear that apart?" Christine had a point; the bond of the Gilmore-Danes girls was one that could not be broken easily. "The girl would miss her mother terribly; just visiting rights would do them justice. The child would not be happy. I am sure Mr. Hayden here was the best of intentions but it's just not that easy. Agreeing to take care of a child just to smite the other parent isn't right."

"Okay, that's enough. Considering the information, I have gathered I am going to grant Mrs. Danes sole custody of Lorelai Leigh Gilmore. I am sorry Mr. Hayden you just aren't qualified to care for a child of that age. Court dismissed." And with that, the judge got up and left the room.

"That's not fair…" Christopher protested, shortly before being escorted out of the room.

* * *

**Please note that this chapter was not beta-ed!**

**I originally intended for this to be two chapters but I received a request to have all of the court stuff out of the way by this chapter. I like making you, the readers, happy, so there it is, all done. There will be mention of it in the future but other then that you've seen the last of courtrooms…for now.**

**Reviews make me smile, so leave one please. **

**Alaina**


	7. Lorelai is Always Right

**Chapter Seven: Lorelai is _Always_ Right.**

Author Responses:

**Bianca89**- You can thank LukeLorAlways for the title! (and yes, Christopher _is_ Dopey) She's quite inspiring sometimes, much like yourself. Actually, Babbette and Patty aren't sure of exactly what's going on. Lorelai is going to let them know and they're going to have a lot of fun with it too! I'm glad you asked that ("is Christopher going to have any visitation rights, and how is Rory dealing with the twins?") because this chapter deals with all of that. I didn't mention the twins keeping Rory up because I figured if she was downstairs she wouldn't have heard them, but if you think about it, it would've kept her up. Thank you for that!

**TrueLovex3LL**- Amen sister-friend!

Thank you to everyone who reviewed!

A/N: I tried not to get too dirty with this – but I couldn't help it. I did rate it T for safety. ;) I promise it's nothing too detailed. It's really not that bad, just more than I would normally do

Supersized shout out to my best friend & beta Mika! It's always appreciated, hon!!

* * *

The ride home went quickly. Luke drove in silence as he always did but Lorelai and Rory smiled, giggled and sang along with the radio, not very well of course, but hey, it was a good try.

"Thank you, mom." Rory said when they reached _The Crap Shack_. She hugged her mother like she'd never hugged her before.

Lorelai naturally embraced her daughter as well. "For what, babe?" She asked, pulling back a little so she could look into her little girls' deep blue eyes.

"Not letting him take me to live with him." Rory replied bluntly.

"I would never let that happen, honey." Rory smiled up at her and walked inside to join Luke in the house.

"I'm gonna go inside, kay?"

"Sure – Luke's probably making lunch. Tell him I'm gonna go pick up the twins, please?" Lorelai asked putting her fingers through her daughters hair.

"Yup," Rory said, jogging inside the house to help Luke with lunch.

Lorelai walked back toward the jeep taking her set of keys out of her purse. As she sat down, she let out a breath she wasn't aware she was holding. As she drove the short distance to Sookie's house Lorelai evaluated her life so far, she was not yet twenty-five years old and she already had three beautiful children, a perfect husband, and a loving sister. Although her life wasn't one-hundred percent completely perfect she was pretty lucky. There weren't many things she would change so far, _Being closer to my parents would be nice…_ she thought taking a left turn onto Sookie's street. _No, that could be bad, too._ She concluded pulling onto the street in front of Sookie's house.

"Sookie…" Lorelai called, knocking on her friend's front door.

"Hey, hon. Will's sleeping and Lauren's sitting in the basinet. She's fussy and persistent. She's going to be a fun teenager!" Sookie said leading Lorelai deeper into her house.

"Yeah, that'll be fun. So they were good for you? Besides Lauren's whining."

"They were angels. Perfect angels. I'd watch them again at the drop of a hat. How did you get so lucky?"

"Well, good to know." Lorelai laughed.

"So, you wanna tell me what was going on earlier? You were vague about where you three were heading. You were dressed up… I don't know, seems a little fishy to me."

"Uh, sure." Lorelai set her keys down on the coffee table as she sat down across from Sookie, who sat on the recliner chair. "Christopher-"

"Rory's Dad?"

"Yes. Christopher came into town when the twins were born, we were both angry, we said some things and I let it slip that Luke was going to adopt Rory. So if, god forbid, anything happened to me, Luke would get custody of Rory. So, a couple days ago we get a letter from a lawyer saying that he was going to try for sole custody of Rory. Today, we went to court to fight it." Sookie took in a deep breath, "We won, of course because Christopher is incapable of taking care of himself, let alone an eight year old girl."

"Okay. Well, wow. Everything's fine now? You're fine, Rory's good…and Luke is still…there?"

"Jeez Sookie! Yes, Luke is still there! He's not going to leave over a small case. Everyone is fine. I'm good, relieved...yeah, just glad it's over."

"You probably want to get home then, right?"

"Yeah, thanks for watching the twins. I really appreciate it, more than you know, hon."

"Anytime. Need help getting them in the car?" Sookie asked, as Lorelai got up and walked toward her babies.

"Sure, you grab Will?" Sookie nodded and picked up the little boy and brought him outside to Lorelai's Jeep.

* * *

**Yale – Saturday Night – 7:15pm**

(on the phone)

"So you're really gonna go out with him?" Lorelai asked bluntly.

"Lorelai, I really, really like this guy. He's nice, and he's attractive, plus he's Luke's friend so we know he's safe- he's not leather-face or anything…" Ann replied, somewhat uncomfortably.

"Right, 'cause that would be not… very good." Lorelai smiled at her sister's obvious nervousness. "What time is he coming to get you?"

"7:30."

"Do you know what you're doing? Dinner…movie, both?"

"I think dinner. I'm not sure, he seems like the kind of guy to plan a whole big thing without letting anything slip, you know? Kind of like Luke. Spontaneous. Unpredictable…"

"Two adjectives I wouldn't normally associate with my husband, but sure, sometimes he can be unpredictable." Lorelai laughed.

"I never know what he's gonna do." Ann defended.

"You don't live with him."

"Fine, you win."

"I always do." Lorelai told her sister, who sighed in defeat. "I have to go feed the twins, call me after your date?"

"Give them a kiss for me,"

"Of course, talk to you later Ann,"

"Bye," When Ann hung up the phone she got up off her couch and went into the bathroom to check her hair and make-up, which was done exceptionally well. No matter how much she told herself that she shouldn't be nervous, she was. She wasn't even sure why, there wasn't a specific reason for her being nervous, she just _was._ When she heard a knock on the door her jitters got even worse. The butterflies in her stomach seemed to multiply.

"Hi," She said almost inaudibly, as she opened the door.

"Hey, you look gorgeous." Bryan said, handing her a bouquet of yellow roses.

"Thank you! and thank you!" She replied, taking the roses from him, "Why don't you come on in while I put these in water."

"Sure," He walked in behind her, closing the heavy dorm door behind him. "Nice place."

"It's kinda small, but it works for me," She said getting a vase out of one of her cabinets.

"No roommates?" Bryan asked, taking a seat on her couch.

"Nope. Just me."

"Nice. Nice…"

"Okay, we can go now, flowers are all set."

"Alright- let's go."

* * *

**Stars Hollow **

Lorelai and Luke sat in the twins' room, feeding them both bottles.

"Was that Ann?" Luke asked, gently rocking his baby daughter in his arms after she sucked down the whole bottle.

"Yeah, she's going out with Bryan tonight…"

"She's going out with Bryan? My friend Bryan? She's a little young for him, no?"

"That's what I said to her! Then, she called me mom."

"Ouch,"

"Yeah, well. I guess I deserved it; I was being a little protective. We know him, he's a good guy – won't hurt her or anything. But- he's eight years older than she is. I just went into big sister mode and forgot about friend mode, which has almost always been first for us. I just… I don't want anything to happen to her. Apparently she looks up to me, I'm not a very good role model, if you know what I mean. I just – I don't want _that_ to happen to her. She's got so much going for her, she shouldn't have to sacrifice it all." Lorelai ranted, putting the bottle she was feeding her son on the table beside her. Lifting him up to 'burp' him.

"Lorelai, your sister is smart. Bryan can hold his own, too. They've both seen the _Trojan_ commercials. They'll be fine. And if, god forbid, something did happen, I would personally hunt down Bryan and kill him. I love Ann as if she were my own sister. Hell, I see her more than I see my own sister. They are going to be fine. Don't worry about it."

"Okay, I won't. I'm just saying – she's my baby sister. As much as I want to believe that she's grown up and can handle it on her own, I still think of her as that sweet little twelve year old sitting with me on my bedroom floor, screaming at Christopher for not wanting to be there." Lorelai stood up and put her sleeping son in his crib. Luke did the same with Lauren. They both walked out of the room, being sure to grab the baby monitor before leaving the door slightly ajar, and walking down stairs to collapse on the couch.

"She screamed at Christopher?"

"It's a long story. Very talk-show-host. Told it like it was, then hung up on him." Lorelai smiled at the memory.

* * *

**New Haven**

Bryan took Ann to one of the best Italian Restaurants in New Haven; he had planned the whole evening. Called ahead to reserve the best table, ordered for her and bought the restaurants most expensive bottle of champagne to finish off a perfect date. The conversation flowed smoothly, much like they had known each other for years.

"That guy you were with at Luke and Lorelai's wedding…what happened to him?" Bryan asked bluntly.

"Um, we broke up. I broke up with him, actually. It just wasn't right."

"Understandable." Bryan replied taking the last sip of champagne from his glass. After Bryan paid the bill, the short ride back to Yale was intimately quiet.

When they reached Ann's dorm door, neither one wanted to part, giving him a slow kiss Ann said, "You wanna come in?" Bryan replied by kissing her back, slowly. Bringing his hands to her face, resting one on her cheek and the other behind her head. Inching closer to her, filling the unwanted gap between them.

* * *

**I know it's short but I have a plan. Have faith. My updates may come a little slower the next few weeks, only because we have big tests this week as well as next week. Then my mostly undivided attention will be here!**

**Keep a look out for:**

**Could it Be Something More? Chapter three!**

**And a new story: Tales of Another Broken Home (inspired by a segment of the Green Day song Jesus of Suburbia) Not a song fic. An interesting idea – inspired by Jenna ;)**


	8. Oh, Baby!

**Chapter Eight: Oh, Baby! **

Bianca89: I love your reviews. Makes me feel special when you're almost always the first one to leave a lengthy review. Anyway, in reply to your review… I know how that feels, too. having friends become friends with other friends and then become _more_ I personally didn't like it too much initially but you have to get used to it. It's an adjustment, but if they're happy, I'm happy, so… yeah. I always feel that Lorelai needs to tell someone something, most of the time it's either Luke or Rory, but in this case both Luke and Rory were fully aware of the situation so she needed to vent as well as bond with her absent I never really know how to include Sookie in my stories, best friend. I don't think anyone, especially Lorelai, should have to be self-reliant. It's not healthy.

Just a little quote that reminded me of Luke and Lorelai:

You put your _arm_ around my **waist**,  
& pulled me closer & it _didn't_ feel weird,  
or like we were **crossing** any lines,  
it just made sense; it just felt _right_.

* * *

Over the course of the next two months, things went smoothly. Lorelai and Luke got the whole getting up at two AM to feed the twins, thing down. Rory was adjusting well to having two little babies in the house. She loved watching them play in their basinets with their soft stuffed toys and sucking on their pacifiers. While the crying sometimes annoyed her and interrupted studies, she loved it when she walked into a room, looked down at them and they instantly stopped crying. One night, it was late and Rory heard one of the babies rustling around in their cribs upstairs, so she got up out of her bed and staggered upstairs, ready to wake her mother and almost-father, but when she opened their door slightly she saw them close, cuddling and cute. She couldn't and wouldn't disturb that. So, she went into the nursery herself. Opening that door she saw her little sister rolling around in her crib, a broad smile spread across her toothless mouth and eyes wide open.

"Hey, Laur," Rory, whispered, walking over to her sister. She looked down on her, staring into her blue eyes. That's when Lauren stuck her little fist up in the air toward her sister, contracting it. Open. Closed. Open. Closed. When Rory put her hand inside the crib to put her sister's hand down in an attempt to calm her down Lauren wrapped her tiny fingers around her older sister's index. Rory almost cried… she felt as if she were flying.

That night was about a month and a half ago. Now, Rory spends much more than late night wake-up calls with them. She reads to them almost every night. Usually a short, silly book, Like Dr. Seuss, other times, she'll read her current book out loud to them, just to see their reactions to the longer words. She could just tell that they were going to be smart. Will sometimes attempted to repeat the words after Rory said them.

"…your attempts are questionable…" Rory read one evening.

"Queaahhhssstachhball." Will would mimic. Causing Rory and her mother who was always close by, to giggle. Lauren on the other hand, would just sit there, looking around from place to place. Taking in her surroundings.

"Not gonna be much of a reader, sweets?" Lorelai asked, walking over to her daughters crib, brushing some of her now, long brown hair from her forehead. In reply, Lauren shook her head and squealed, "eeuurg". They didn't even try to interpret that one. "Good, girl." Lorelai joked.

Although Luke would never be in on these bonding times, he was almost always standing in the doorway, observing his wife and his kids with loving eyes. Like a protector, standing in the shadows, if any harm were to come to them, he'd be there in a heartbeat.

* * *

**New Haven (Tuesday)**

Meanwhile, at Yale, everything seemed to be going well for Ann and Bryan. They had been out a few more times. Some would say they were casually dating, others would disagree saying, "it's much more than that." Bryan would sometimes spend the night at the dorm with Ann. Whether it be talking about a good book they had both read, or watching movies, or other _things._ This week though, Ann was a little off. Avoiding Bryan's phone calls, not really wanting to talk to anyone… she was acting strange. Even Lorelai, who could always get her stubborn sister to talk to her, couldn't reach her. Something else was off as well…

As she walked into her dorm one afternoon, after being told by a professor that her grades were slipping and that she needed to "focus more, or you won't make it.", she checked a calendar.

"Oh, no." She whispered to herself. She then grabbed her keys and ran out the door. Driving as fast as she could to the nearest drug store.

* * *

**Stars Hollow**

"Hey Luke, have you talked to Ann this week?" Lorelai asked, walking into that same Tuesday.

"Nope, why, you haven't?" Luke said, cutting a sandwich in half for Lorelai. It was one of those rare afternoons when Luke was home for lunch and Lorelai didn't have to drag the kids out of the house to go to the diner. It really wasn't much fun having to carry two babies around town. It wasn't agreeing with her back very well either.

"No, not since last… I don't know, I'm gonna aim high and say last Monday."

"Yesterday?"

"No, _last_ Monday."

"Right. Here's your sandwich." He said placing it in front of her. "Call her, she's probably just busy. You now her, always doing something."

"I'm worried about her. She's been so distant, and moody. She doesn't want to talk to me anymore. God, I sound like my mother." Luke laughed. "Don't laugh, I don't want to sound like my mother…" Lorelai complained.

"Okay, let's stop talking about your mother now. You and Sookie are going shopping today right?"

"Yeah, she should be here soon."

"Are you taking the kids, or am I watching them." Luke asked, putting the final touches on his sandwich and sitting across from her.

"I was hoping you could watch them, if it's not too much trouble. We could take Lauren if you want; you could have a little father-son time with Will, doesn't matter to me."

"Nah, I can handle both of 'em. I've done it before. I'll be fine. You have fun, and don't spend too much money. We have two kids in diapers. That's not cheap."

"Yes, mom." Lorelai said sarcastically, taking a large bite out of her sandwich.

'Knock, knock'

"Come in!" Lorelai called, thinking it was Sookie. The person, however was not Sookie.

"Come in, Lorelai? Come in? That's how you answer your door? That's not safe, especially seeing as you've got two babies in the house."

"Hi, mom." Lorelai said, standing up to greet her mother properly.

"Hello Lorelai. Luke? Don't you work during the afternoon?" Emily said, just noticing Luke sitting there.

"Sometimes, it depends. I'm watching the twins today, so…"

"Oh, I see." She smiled, stiffly. "Lorelai, have you talked to your sister lately?"

"No, I've called her a few times but she won't answer and won't call back. You haven't talked to her either?"

"No, she usually calls at least once a day, but we haven't heard from her, unless that imbecile of a maid is keeping calls from us. I suppose I should just go down to Yale and see her."

"Okay – well, if you see her tell her to call me?" Lorelai asked.

"Of course, goodbye, Luke." Emily said, clutching her purse and turning on her heal.

"Goodbye, Emily."

'Knock, knock'

"Are you going to shout out to them, too?"

"No, mother. I am going to get up out of my very, very comfortable chair to open the door which the person on the other side could have done just as well by themselves." Lorelai said, ushering her mother out of the kitchen. "Hey Sookie," Lorelai greeted.

"Hey, Lorelai. Mrs. Gilmore, hi, how are you?"

"Just fine Sookie, thank you. I should be going, I'll talk to you soon Lorelai. It was nice to see you again Sookie." And with that, Emily Gilmore was gone.

"Sookie's just fine too, mom. Thanks for asking." Lorelai commented, leading Sookie inside. "I'm just gonna let Luke know we're leaving, kay?"

"Okay – should I grab the kids?"

"No, they're napping. Luke's gonna stay with them."

"Okay." Lorelai smiled and walked back into the kitchen.

"We're gonna go," She announced.

"Kay, have fun." Luke replied, standing up to kiss her.

"We will."

"Bye Luke!" Sookie shouted excitedly as she and Lorelai walked out the door.

"See yah, Sookie."

* * *

**Yale**

Ann sat curled up on her bedroom floor staring at the small, rectangular box in front of her. She had been sitting in the same position since she got home almost a half hour ago. When she walked in the door she dropped her keys on the coffee table and walked into her bedroom, closing the door quietly behind her, she emptied the contents of the Stop and Shop bag onto the floor in front of her. Then she dropped to her knees. From there she gradually moved into a sideways position, her legs bent backward and her hands under her head.

She tried a few times to work up the courage to get up and take the test but she couldn't. She didn't want to know if she was… pregnant. If she was, she couldn't have _it_. Her parents who had counted on her to be the good girl for so long wouldn't be able to, as they did with Lorelai, look her in the eye. For a whole six months after Lorelai had Rory, Ann could distinctly remember Lorelai trying to make contact with either parent but failing miserably. Emily and Richard would simply look at her mouth as she was speaking, or over her head. She couldn't have that happen to her. She and her parents had a good relationship… better than Lorelai and her parents'. She was so busy thinking she didn't hear someone knock at the door. That, or she just didn't care. So when her mother burst through her bedroom door she was a little caught off guard.

"Ann why haven't you… oh." Emily said, her gaze drifting from her youngest daughter's eyes to the pregnancy test that lie in front of her.

* * *

TBC.

I can play this out either way. She can either A) be pregnant or B) not be.

I'm going to leave it up to the reviewers.

Majority rules here, so let me know!

This story is on the alert list of 21 people and I got three reviews for the last chapter? Three? Is the story _that _bad?


	9. It's Not Over

**Chapter Nine: It's Not Over.**

**Bianca89**: You're officially my favorite person on You're always so thorough with your reviews, you really let me know what you're thinking, and as an added bonus, you're honest. You always give me amazing ideas, thank you!

**LorLukeAlways**: Please note that I wrote this like three days before I received your review. Answer this for me… do you have some sort of clairvoyant abilities?

**Xliteratiwhorex**: The twins are about… four months old. Give or take a little.

Thank you for your reviews, majority rules on Ann's pregnancy. Thanks for letting me know what _you _think!! It came out 7 votes to 4.

Song(s) I was listening to while writing this chapter:

Ohio Is For Lovers – Hawthorn Heights (My Favorite Song)

It's Not Over – Daughtry

Pain – Three Days Grace

* * *

**Yale**

Emily looked over the site in front of her. Almost not believing her eyes. She desperately wanted to say something but she couldn't find the words. Ann sat up quickly when her mother entered the room. She instantly looked down, ashamed that her mother had walked in on such a site. She knew if she were her mother she would probably have turned around and walked out of the room. Not looking back, but her mother just stood there.

"Ann…" Emily began, instantly loosing her train of thought.

"Mom, I…" Ann tried to say something back, but she couldn't find the words.

"You should probably take that test." Emily said sharply. Ann nodded, picked up the test and wordlessly walked into the bathroom. After a few minutes, Ann emerged from the bathroom, when she didn't see her mother in her bedroom she walked out into the common room. Emily was sitting on the couch, hands in her lap, staring firmly floor.

"I'm not pregnant, mom." Ann stated simply.

"Good." Emily replied, coldly. "I came by to make sure you were okay. No one had heard from you last week. We were worried. Lorelai says to call her." Ann nodded. Emily stood up and walked toward the door. "Might I suggest watching a _Trojan_ commercial, next time?" Emily said stiffly before walked out the door. After a few hours Ann decided to call Lorelai. After a few rings Luke picked up.

"Hello,"

"Hey Luke, is Lorelai there?"

"Yeah, hold on a sec' Ann,"

"Okay."

"Ann? Where have you been? Are you hurt? Are you okay? What happened?" Lorelai asked, nervously.

"I thought I was pregnant." There was silence.

"Are you?"

"No."

"Good." She paused for a moment, "Ann I told you Bryan was a bad idea."

"Lorelai, please. Not now."

"No, Ann, yes now. I get to choose when I yell at you because I love you. You can't just go around doing that, think you're pregnant and then shake it off! This is a big deal! What if you were pregnant, huh? How would you handle it? You're still in school, you're last year of school none the less! You're doing good right now. Do you know how much something like that would complicate things?"

"But you..."

"I was different!" Lorelai shut her eyes tightly. "Sure, I was a few years younger, yeah I was still in school, but I was different. I _am_ different. You're more responsible then I am, you're the one that makes all those crazy anal lists and pro/con things that you addicted Rory to. You think things through! I didn't! I don't! I do the thing I think as right at the time. I'm spontaneous, and unpredictable. I act on impulse because I'm too stubborn to think things through. You're the smart one, damnit!"

"I know." Ann cried, "I know…" She could deny it all she wanted, but she knew it was all true. She sat there for a little while before speaking again, "I should go. I have a paper due, and I'm failing a class… I just – I need to go now. I'll call you later, or tomorrow. I dunno when I'm gonna call you, but I will. Eventually. When I'm ready." She sniffled, "bye."

"Ann, come on…" but she hung up. Lorelai hung on to the phone for a second before putting it down.

"You okay?" Luke asked, re-entering the room, from the hallway where he was listening in.

"She's too much like me," Lorelai cried. Luke pulled her up from the chair she was sitting in and hugged her. "She thought she was pregnant!" Lorelai yelled into Luke's chest, "she thought she was pregnant and she's just… I'm a bad influence. She shouldn't be hanging out with me. I should just not talk to her anymore. She doesn't need someone like me in her life."

"Stop it. Don't ever talk down about yourself in front of me."

"I'm setting a bad example for.."

"No. Don't. I don't want to hear it. You're not a bad person; you're not setting a bad example for _anyone_." Luke pulled her back a little so he could face her, "Lorelai, look at me." She did, "Don't you ever, ever talk down about yourself in front of me, okay? You're beautiful, smart, funny, sometimes annoyingly witty, but that's okay because I love you, Ann loves you, your kids love you and no matter how much you doubt it, your parents love you." Lorelai said nothing, just held him close.

"Thank you," She finally whispered against his chest, almost inaudibly. "I love you, too, Luke."

"You okay, now?" Luke asked about five minutes later.

"Yeah—I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… explode. I'm just…"

"I know, hon. Don't worry about it. Just relax, there's coffee downstairs, you go get some and I'll take care of everything up here." Luke said referring to the twins who needed a changing.

"Kay," Lorelai said, blinking slowly once and exiting the room.

* * *

**Hartford **

Emily drove slowly back to her house. She couldn't focus properly on the road, she didn't want to know that her daughter could have been pregnant. She hadn't even known she was with anyone! When she eventually did pull up to her mansion, she got out of the car, dropped her keys on the nearest table, walked upstairs and collapsed on her bed where she began to cry.

"I've done it again…" She cried.

* * *

**Stars Hollow **

It was your average Monday morning in Stars Hollow. Men and Women rushing to work, parents rushing their kids to school and Kirk doing something weird in the square. On a normal Monday Lorelai would wake up early and watch the kids, go to Luke's for lunch and sometimes breakfast if Luke himself hadn't made it before he left. This Monday was different, it had now been about four months since the twins were born and Lorelai was way over due to return to work. So today, Luke woke up a little later, as to make sure the twins wouldn't be overly cranky all day, and took little Will and Lauren to work with him.

At 6:00AM Lorelai rose from her deep slumber to see the opposite side of the bed empty, so she got up and walked into the twins room, where she expected to see her two early risers kicking and giggling in their cribs. But they weren't. Immediately alarmed, Lorelai looked around the room franticly for the phone, ready to call Luke. But instead of the phone she saw a note. Written sloppily in Luke's messy cursive.

_You're probably confused right now; I took Will and Lauren to work with me. _

_Don't worry about picking them up or anything. You go to work, and I'll see you later. _

_Come in for coffee if you have time. I don't like not seeing you in the morning. _

_Luke._

Lorelai smiled and went back into her bedroom to shower so she could see Luke before heading off to work.

"Morning Mom," Rory greeted her mother as she jogged down the stairs, still towel drying her hair. "Where are the twins?"

"Luke took them with him to the diner, today."

"Is that safe?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lorelai sat down opposite Rory at the kitchen table, taking the towel off of her head and setting it over the back of the chair.

"Where would they be? Certainly not behind the counter, something like a sack of potatoes could fall on top of them…"

"Potatoes? Luke stores potatoes overhead in the diner?"

"Probably not, that's just the reason he made up so I wouldn't go behind the counter."

"You don't go behind the counter anyway."

"That's because I'm afraid a sack of potatoes will magically fall on to my head. Dad's scared me for life." Rory joked, taking a spoonful of her cereal.

"Okay…" Lorelai got up and went to get a cup of coffee. "Rory, were you in the coffee?"

"Was I in the coffee? If by that you mean, did I have any… nope."

"You're too smart for your own good." Lorelai said while pouring herself a cup of Luke-made coffee. "mmm." She said after the first heavenly sip. "Have you ever asked Luke how he makes his coffee?"

"Yes." Rory replied honestly.

"Me too. He won't tell me."

"He wrote it down for me," Rory replied innocently.

"He what?"

"Wrote it down for me…" Rory looked up from her cereal with a devilish grin. "Is that a problem?"

"He told you? Like actual told you what he does in great detail?"

"Mom, first of all he's Luke. Mr. Monosyllable, nothing he says, or writes is in 'great detail', second of all, he won't tell you because it makes you crazy not knowing. He finds it comical when you're crazy. You're always crazy, but it's more of when you're going crazy then actually craz-"

"On topic please. So he wrote it down."

"Yeah, told me to keep it well hidden and when I'm old enough to drink coffee, try it out. He said he'll show me exactly how he does it when I turn 18. Chances are I'll get him to teach me sooner. You taught me your pout. He always gives in to that…"

"Can I see it?"

"See what?"

"The recipe?"

"No."

"Rory! Please?" Lorelai exclaimed, looking down at her daughter, who stared back in amusement.

"No. That was one of the conditions. 'Don't let your mom see the recipe. It's more fun this way.' Were his exact words. Sorry, you're out of luck, mom." Lorelai groaned.

"But, Rory. Hon, I'm your mother. I have you life… you are legally obligated to tell me things like how my husband makes his coffee!"

"Actually, since you're not a judge, I'm not legally obligated to tell you anything." Rory smiled devilishly.

"I can't believe you would betray your own mother like that! What happened to little loving Rory? Who told her mommy everything?"

"I think she disappeared when we added some additions to out little family." Rory smiled sincerely, "That's a good thing, though. It's better to have a mom and a dad. Not that you alone weren't enough, coz you were. More than really, but I think it's probably better that I grow up with a dad, too. You get what I mean right?"

"Yeah. I also get that you're trying to switch the subject! You can't get me off topic that easy; I'm not Sookie you know." Lorelai looked her daughter square in the eye, "Lorelai Leigh Gilmore you tell me where that recipe is right now!"

"I can't. Dad said no!"

"Fine." Lorelai huffed.

* * *

**Later That Day**

When Lorelai arrived at the Inn she felt home again. Not that she hadn't felt at home in her _home_, because she did. She felt very at home. But when she walked into the Independence Inn she felt like she was home, _home_. She went through her day, as she would have any other day, just like _before_. Her day went surprisingly well, she only called Luke four times to check on the twins and each time Luke would answer, "Lorelai, I know what I'm doing." She would reply, "yeah but, you don't need help or anything?"

He would sternly tell her, "Lorelai. Relax. I'm fine, they're fine, you should just work and I'll see you later, okay?" Reluctantly, Lorelai hung up. The day went by fast, which was very unusual, so when 5:00 came around she was surprised. She grabbed her handbag and coat from her office and walked into the kitchen to say goodbye to Sookie.

"I'm gonna head out, Sook." She announced.

"Okay, hon. Give the kids a kiss for me!" Sookie said, looking up from her food. "Tell Luke I said 'hi!' too!"

"Will do." Lorelai smiled, "See you tomorrow."

"Lorelai," Sookie stopped her before she walked out of the kitchen. "Its good having you back. We missed you around here."

"Its good to be back. Really good." Lorelai offered one more smile before heading out. When she arrived at Luke's she saw all three of her kids sitting at a table by the window. Will and Lauren, of course, were in highchairs, but none-the-less they were all sitting there and they looked perfect. However, when she walked into the diner with a smile on her face she noticed Luke's look of distress. Without going to say hello to the kids first, she walked up to the counter.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Like every morning I come in and I get the mail, nothing out of the norm' right?"

"Um, no…?"

"Right. No, but today I'm going through the mail here and there's one without a return address. It was handwritten, too, which is weird because all I ever get here is bills. So I come in and I open it and it's a small neatly folded note."

"Secret Admirer or something?" He held up the note.

"'_It's Not Over. – Christopher'_" Luke read.

"Oh, no…"

* * *

**Dun, Dun, Dun! **

**Don't shoot, I know what I'm doing and honestly I hate Christopher, too, so don't worry and please keep reading! **

**Reviews are always much appreciated! **

**-- Happy St. Patrick's Day!**

Alaina Rose.


	10. I'm Not Scrooge!

**Chapter Ten: I'm Not Scrooge**

**No author responses this time. I want to get straight to the chapter. **

**Disclaimer: One thing on my Christmas list I didn't get. :**

**Be sure to head over to my profile page and check out my newest story: My Happy Ending **

* * *

Lorelai just sat for a moment, staring at the note Luke held in his hands. "_Oh, no…" _She whispered. She dropped her head to the counter. "What is that supposed to mean?" Luke shook his head and put the slip of paper back into his pocket.

"I don't know. It doesn't sound good though."

"Nothing involving Christopher is good." She picked her head back up and looked into her husbands eyes. "What are we gonna do?"

"There isn't much we can do. We'll talk about it later… until then, we'll just have to wait it out."

"Okay," Lorelai sighed and took the cup of coffee Luke had set in front of her. Right as she was about to get up to sit with her kids the bells above the door jingled. Lorelai spun around to look at the new arrival.

"Hey, I just… I needed to see you." Ann said, walking up to the counter. "I wanted to know why you went off on me like that." Lorelai shook her head.

"Not now Ann." She replied not making eye contact with her younger sister.

"Look, Mom's mad at me, Dad's mad at me; Bryan's not talking to me… I don't deserve the cold shoulder from you too!" Ann protested, "I can't handle having everyone angry with me. I've never had to deal with this before… there's no reason for everyone I love to be mad at me."

"Don't be stupid Ann. We all have every right to be mad."

"You don't. If I had been pregnant, it wouldn't have been your problem. It would not have been your fault. You would have had nothing to do with it."

"Not directly, no. By extension, yes! You remember when we were growing up, everything that went wrong was always blamed on me? You getting pregnant would have resulted in Mom blaming me for being a bad example."

"Not everything involves you Lorelai." Ann said, coldly. She turned on her heal and walked out. Lorelai, however, wasn't finished. She got up and ran after her.

"Look, I'm sorry for blowing up at you on the phone the other day, but you know for a fact that mom would have blamed me. You've got a good imagination, think about it. Next time you decide to come to Stars Hollow and have a public fight with me, remember that I always backed you up on everything you wanted to do. When you wanted to be cheerleader in high school, I said, 'Sure Ann, do what makes you happy' even though I knew, you didn't really want to be a cheerleader, you wanted to impress one of the football players, right?" Ann was silent. "When in your senior year, you wanted to go blonde; I said 'Go for it. You only live once right?' And you did. You dyed your hair blonde and it looked hideous. I even let you stay with me the night after you did it because Mom told you it made you look like a whore. Then, three days later, I went with you to the hair salon to dye it back. So don't come to me, saying that not everything involves me. Because 70 percent of the crap you've gotten yourself into has." With that, Lorelai turned around and walked back into the diner, where she sat down at the only empty seat at the table her kids were sitting at.

Ann watched her sister walk away, go into the diner, and sit at a table by one of the windows. Ann shook her head, wiped a stray tear from her eye and walked back to her car.

"You okay?" Luke asked as he placed a plate in front of Rory and filled Lorelai's cup.

"Nope." She replied, taking a sip of her coffee. "Not now, though… later." Lorelai said, faking a smile and turning back to her kids.

* * *

**Hartford – Gilmore Mansion **

Ann drove the quick half-hour drive to her parents house, ready to try to make things right with her mother. Unlike Lorelai, Ann was the peacemaker. She wasn't nearly as stubborn as her older sister, however she was much less excepting when she didn't get what she wanted. When she arrived at the huge house she grew up in, she got out of her car and walked slowly up the cobblestone driveway. Without ringing the doorbell, she walked in.

"Mom?" She called. No answer. "Dad?" She tried, again, no answer. She walked deeper into the house to find no one home. _Damn it._ Since no one was home, she went into the living room, took off her shoes and sat on the couch. She picked up a magazine that was sitting on the table, probably left by one of the maids, and began to read. She would sit there until someone got home. Today she was determined to make things right... with everyone.

* * *

**Stars Hollow**

"They asleep?" Luke whispered as he came up behind his wife who was in the nursery, watching their two beautiful children sleep.

"Yeah," She replied, almost inaudibly. "Come on," Lorelai said, pulling Luke's hand from her waist into her own hand, dragging him out of the nursery and into their bedroom. "So Ann came by," Lorelai said, sitting down on their bed.

"I saw. That didn't look pretty." Luke replied, taking a seat next to her.

"We shared some words." Lorelai said, taking a deep breath, "She wanted to know why I blew up at her on the phone and truth is, I don't know!"

"Lorelai, you weren't yelling at her."

"No? Who then? My imaginary friend Ann? Coz, yes I know, I get them mixed up a lot." Lorelai said sarcastically.

"You were talking to you."

"Yes, because I commonly talk to myself…"

"You weren't talking to you, _you,_ you were talking to past you, _sixteen year old_ you." Luke explained.

"I'm not Scrooge; There was no visit from the ghost of Lorelai-past!"

"Think about it, I'm gonna go downstairs and see if Rory needs anything. I'll be back up in a bit, okay?"

"I hate riddles Luke, you know that." She called after her husband who was halfway down the stairs already, "_That's half the fun,"_ He shouted back. "Ugh!" Lorelai fell back onto her bed, falling into the mess of pillows. She stared blankly up at the ceiling, thinking about what Luke said, she could _not_ make sense of it. He had definitely been spending too much time with her, he was at the point where you had to be in his head to understand what he was saying – a true trait of Lorelai Gilmore. "Lu-uk, I don't get it!" She whined.

"You're not thinking hard enough then." He replied coming back into their bedroom, scarring her.

"Jeez, announce yourself! You gave me a damn heart attack."

"I'm sorry." He said, sitting next to her on the bed. "Need help deciphering my riddle?" Luke joked.

"Yes, please." Lorelai replied, looking at him.

"All those things you said to Ann, on the phone the other day, were things you wish someone would have told you. You don't want her to face some of the hardships you had to, right?" Lorelai nodded, "Things were hard for you when you left your parents house, you don't want her to have to deal with that. You want for her, the things you didn't get to have. You said it yourself a few weeks ago, 'that girl's capable of greatness, she doesn't need anything to hold her back'. Did you not say that?"

"No, I did."

"This starting to make sense, now?"

"Yeah," She scooted closer to him and laid her head on his shoulder. "Thank you, Luke. When'd you get so smart?"

"I've spent to much time with your daughter." Lorelai laughed softly and smiled.

"Hey, Luke…"

"Mmm?" He answered, falling asleep.

"How do you make your coffee?"

"G'night, Lorelai." He said, reaching over to his bedside table, turning off the lamp and pulling the sheets over his torso.

"Rrr," Lorelai groaned, "Goodnight."

* * *

**I was initially concerned with the size of this chapter; then I though… if you've ever read a James Patterson book, (****or novel,) you'd see that his chapters are short and sometimes choppy but the sudden POV change keeps your interest more, so it's good – I recently read his book _When The Wind Blows_ the first book in an amazing series to which I will be starting the second book soon. I recommend that book to anyone who's interested in the mystery of children that fly. Truly amazing. **

**_When the Wind Blows _is the first book and the sequel is _The Lake House_, which has nothing to do with the movie. **

**Anyway, Review if you have the time. Anonymous reviews are also welcome, I don't care who you are as long as you've got an opinon. **

**Remember!: I DO NOT have a beta right now. Mine is busy; if there is anything unreadable or confusing in this chapter LET ME KNOW so I can change it. I'll read and review the story of your choice if you point out any flaws –or if you ask me to, I have a lot of time on my hands currently, so let me know what story you want me to read and I will. **


	11. Labyrinth

**Chapter 11: Labyrinth **

**I have had a few people ask me about the twins' age – This is set in late June of 1992, meaning that they are almost five months old. However: I have stuff planned for their teenage years, as I've said before… so, the timeline will spring a head a _few_ years, sooner than you may think. **

**Alternate Chapter Title: In A Pickle OR David Bowie's Tights**

**A/N: The line used in Ann's paper, was actually a line I wrote for a science paper – I thought it was pretty good so I slapped it in there.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the line I used for Ann's paper. That's mine; I did damn good on that paper, too!**

**

* * *

**

"Please Luke," Lorelai pleaded for the fifth time, begging her husband to escort her and the kids to the Fourth of July Festival that was coming up.

"You know I hate the stupid town…junk! I do not like them, I don't go to them, and I never will, like or go to them!" Luke told her firmly, while making a pot of coffee. Lorelai rolled her eyes and hopped off the diner's stool.

"Luke," She called, he turned around walked over to her and looked her in the eye. Lorelai smiled her bright, contagious smile, stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the lips, he returned the kiss willingly. "Luke, please come with me and your kids to the Fourth of July Festival. Please."

"Fine," Luke reluctantly replied. "Now get out. You're late." He said sarcastically.

"Oh, damn." She said looking at the clock, "Give Lauren and Will a kiss for me, when they wake up. Bye, babe." Lorelai said, leaning up to give him a goodbye kiss, before heading quickly out the door to work.

* * *

**Independence Inn, 3:00PM(ish) **

Lorelai stood at the front desk, lazily going through the mail when the phone rang.

"Independence Inn, This is Lorelai – How can I help you?" She answered, routinely.

"Hey, it's me." Luke replied.

"Umm, me who?" Lorelai asked, still looking through the mail.

"Who do you think?"

"George Clooney? Tom Cruise? Johnny Depp?" Lorelai questioned, knowing damn well who was on the other side of the connection.

"I'm being compared to Clooney now? High praise from you."

"Yeah, well… so what's up?" Lorelai put down the mail and focused her attention on her husband.

"What do you say we go out tonight?"

"All of us?" Lorelai asked of Luke's vague plans.

"Just me and you."

"Sounds good, but what'll we do with Rory and the twins?"

"Kirk's running a new babysitting business; I thought that would be okay." Luke said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Kirk is babysitting now. He said he'd take the kids." He rephrased.

"Luke, I don't think that's such a good idea…" She replied, suddenly in 'mom mode'.

"I know, I was kidding. I called Sookie a little while ago; she said she'd watch the kids."

"That sounds better. What time?" She checked her watch, it was already 3:45.

"Seven?"

"Sounds good, talk to you later."

"Alright, see you later. Bye,"

"I love you, Luke." She told him before he hung up.

"I love you, too." He replied nervously, not sure what made her say it so bluntly. To any normal married couple, one of the two saying _I love you_ wouldn't be a big deal, but with Lorelai and Luke, it was different. Luke wasn't much of a talkative guy, more of 'let your actions speak for you', person. Lorelai, usually the over-talkative had grown more and more like him since they started dating; she talked a lot less and showed how she was feeling through body language more than verbally letting him know. Luke knew his wife loved him, he didn't need her to tell him constantly and he was almost positive she felt the same way.

* * *

**Yale**

Ann sat in her apartment finishing up a last minute paper, "the last of this year," she told herself repeatedly, as a motive to get it done faster, but she couldn't focus. She reread the last line she had written almost thirteen times. _While the effects of Global Warming aren't a major concern to us now, if we aren't careful, the daily lives of our future posterity could be strongly influenced by this growing problem._ On her fourth time reading it she decided if she didn't just move on, the paper would never get done. She stared at the computer screen for a moment longer before deciding that she needed nourishment before continuing; she closed the screen to her laptop, got up, grabbed her keys and walked out the door when she realized she didn't have anywhere to go. She could go to Lorelai's, but Lorelai was still angry with her. She could go to Bryan's but he wasn't talking to her. She tried to figure out why he was mad at her, so, again she replayed the previous day's conversation…

"_Bryan, I have to tell you something. Something that you might not like." _

"_Okay, go." _

"_I just think you should know, because god-forbid it was actually true, I think you would have wanted to know… and it would have been bad if I didn't tell you and I didn't want you to run like Chris did and I should shut up and get to the point, huh?"_

"_That would be wise," He said in his normal monosyllabic way. He and Luke must have spent a lot of time together. _

"_I thought I was pregnant." _

"_But we…"_

"_Were not safe." She finished for him._

"_But you…"_

"_Said I was on the pill, yes."_

"_And I…"_

"_Believed me," Ann looked down at her shoes, "Look I know it was dumb of me to lie to you like that, but it was our first date and I was caught up and the moment and…. I don't want to screw this up Bryan, I like you. A lot." _

"_Ann, I…" He looked into her clear blue eyes, "Ann, I… need space. I can't do this right now. I'm sorry." Bryan smiled a sympathetic smile, one you might give a widow at a funeral, before closing the door slowly in her face._

Ann shook the thoughts of that day from her head and focused on finding food. _The Pub?_ No, too many couples on dates, she didn't want to have to see that. She also didn't want to go into a restaurant by herself; when a 94 man walks into a restaurant he and his wife used to go to on what _was_ their anniversary, it's cure and sentimental, but when a 20-something year old college student walks into a restaurant requesting a table for one, muffled giggles are heard from the wait-staff, so she decided on McDonalds. It would be a long drive, no doubt, seeing as the closest one was in Fairfield… roughly 35 minutes away. _Oh, well. It's worth it I suppose._ She hopped in her car and headed for Fairfield.

* * *

**Stars Hollow**

"Thanks for watching them Sookie," Luke said, gratefully when Sookie came to the diner to pick up the kids.

"Anytime, I know you two need a break; some alone time, sometimes. It's understandable." Luke rolled his eyes, "So am I taking them for the night, or just for a few hours."

"Whatever works for you," He clarified.

"I can take them for the night for you." Sookie winked, "I have to work at 3:00 though, so anytime before then is perfect."

"Sounds good. Thanks again for doing this Sookie, it means a lot to me and Lorelai."

"Anytime, Luke. You know that."

Luke smiled, "Everything you'll need for the twins is in that bag and you have bassinets at your place, so… other than that Lorelai will have her cell phone and we'll be home by 11:00 if you need to call then."

"Sounds good to me." Sookie looked over to the table where the kids were sitting, walked over and picked up one of the car seats, "Ready to go, kitten?" Sookie asked Rory.

"Sure," Rory responded, taking one last swig of her coke. "Bye, Dad," She said sweetly, giving him one of their infamous half hugs.

"See you tomorrow, kid." He kissed the top of her head lovingly, before leaning over to kiss each of the twins. Sookie left a few minutes later, leaving Luke to finish up at the diner and head home to get ready for the night to come. Which he did, in a timely manner. He closed down early giving Caesar a well-needed night off, and went home. Lorelai wasn't due home for another hour or so, but he wanted tonight to be perfect. They hadn't been out, alone, in nearly sixth months; it was driving him crazy.

At 6:00 Lorelai finally got off work; she took a quick shower before beginning her primping. By the time she was finished, she looked like gorgeous, like a model, straight out of a magazine. She came down just in time to see Luke, who had left so Lorelai could have time to get ready in solitude, coming through the front door.

"You look amazing," Luke said, looking up at the stairs at his wife.

"Thank you," She replied, smiling widely. "You look very nice yourself." She complimented making her way down the remaining stairs. Luke took a few steps toward Lorelai, kissing her softly as a greeting. "So what's the plan for tonight?"

"Dinner and a movie?"

"Like old times," Lorelai smiled.

"It's not old times. It's only been a few months."

"Almost a year,"

"It's still not considered old times until it's more than a year."

"Says who?"

"Dinner or movie first?" Luke asked, changing the subject.

"Nice subject change, let's do dinner first." Lorelai grabbed her coat. "Let me just grab my purse and we'll be off." She said, walking into the kitchen to grab her purse. "Okay, let's go!"

Luke took Lorelai to a small restaurant called _L' Amore_, the little Italian place near Hartford. There weren't many people there, so it was quiet and intimate. The night progressed smoothly. The only thing that went slightly wrong was Luke's reaction when he let Lorelai pick the movie.

"Lorelai, come on! This is a kid's movie!" He tried to reason.

"But it has David Bowie!"

"In tights!" Luke recuperated.

"Exactly why it's not a kids movie."

"Lorelai, please, I hate this movie."

"But it's Labyrinth. You cannot hate Labyrinth. It's the perfect balance of real people and slightly unrealistic puppets, with an added bonus of David Bowie! It's the perfect movie."

"I'm sorry, slightly unrealistic puppets? Their mouths don't move with the sound of their voice!"

"That's half the fun, babe!" After a few more attempts to have Lorelai pick another movie, Luke finally gave in.

* * *

**Time Warp! (Sorry, it's necessary! Any details that you may have missed during the time lapse will be later recognized later on.)**

**Friday, January 19, 1995 – **

The Danes family sat in the living room of their home of three years. It was their weekly movie night, the one day a week where all sat down and watched a movie, (sometimes two!) together. This tradition had originated when it was just Lorelai and Rory, but had been put on a temporary hiatus when Lauren and Will were born. Every week they would rotate who got to choose the movies. Lorelai would almost always choose a Molly Ringwald movie claiming, "Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club are all amazing movies and necessary if we want out kids to have any sort of intellect." Rory would always agree, and Luke would roll his eyes. Anytime it was Luke's turn he would let one of the girls choose saying, "The movies that I like wouldn't be appropriate for the twins." A trademark "Dirty" was always expected from that comment, but Luke was used to it by now.

Tonight, though, was the first time the twins would be able to choose. They were just learning how to talk and they agreed on everything. Probably because they didn't know better... but, oh well.

"Okay, so… who's turn is it to choose?" Lorelai asked, addressing the group.

"Who chose last week?" 10-year-old Rory asked.

"Me, but it was Luke's turn. So Lauren and Will?"

"Me! Me!" Lauren shouted squirming around on the couch in between Luke and Will.

"No, Me!" Will said back.

"Calm down, you can choose together." Luke told them sternly. They always listened to him. The sound of his voice somehow calmed the kids down, the always stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to Luke whenever he spoke.

"Fine," Will pouted, then turned to his right to talk to his sister. "What one?"

"Labrithy." Lauren replied, trying to pronounce 'Labyrinth.'.

"Kay. Mommy, we want Labrithy!"

"You mean Labyrinth?" Rory asked.

"ats what I said!" Will replied in his two-year-old fashion.

"Of course it is." Lorelai said with a smile, "Guess we're watching Labyrinth." Lorelai smiled slyly, knowing Luke hated that particular movie with a passion and it was the same movie the twins picked every week. It was the only movie title they knew.

"Every time." Luke muttered. "You know that they're going to pick the same movie every time! Why don't you teach them another movie?" Luke huffed.

"Because we all know you love David Bowie, so much!" Lorelai teased, popping the video into the VCR and walking over to sit on the right of her husband.

"You don't have to watch the movie, you know. You can just go upstairs and go to sleep. I know how much you hate Bowie's tights." Lorelai said, scooting closer to Luke, placing her arm around his waist and her head on his shoulder.

By the time Labyrinth was over, Rory had fallen asleep on the recliner chair, Will fell asleep sprawled out over the couch and Lauren made her way over in between Lorelai and Luke, her feet over Luke's lap, her head on Lorelai's lap. Lorelai was drifting off to sleep as well, but stone cold Luke sat, awake staring at the credits roll on the screen. Not wanting to move. After a moment, he decided his best bet would be to wake Lorelai and have her help him take Will and Lauren upstairs.

"Lorelai," He whispered, trying to wake her but not the rest of the room in the process. "Lorelai," She shifted slightly. He called her name once more, when that failed he leaned slightly and kissed her. Her eyes fluttered open.

"Mm, what time is it?" She asked, stretching a little.

"Late. Can you carry Lauren upstairs?"

"Mmhmm. Yeah." They got up slowly and picked up the twins, taking them upstairs into their room.

* * *

**Okay, so, we've made the transition of a few years. **

**_Anything and Everything_ that you missed over those three years will be explained in the next chapter. Including: Ann's Drama, Ann and Lorelai's Fight.. things like that. **

**I am going to be away from the sixth to the fifteenth, it's my spring break and I'll be away from a computer. I will however have a pen and paper. If It was good enough for the authors in the 18th Century it's good enough for me. The next chapter will be up the second I get home I swear! **

**Please Review. Review's make me smile.**

**_This Chapter Was not beta-ed because my beta is uber busy, as am I. Plus, I wanted this chapter up before I went on my trip… so I didn't have time to send it to her._**


	12. Easier Said Than Done

**Chapter Twelve: Easier Said Than Done**

**Lets just start with; I am terribly sorry. I would explain my story, but it isn't at all worth your time. I'm a slacker. That's basically it. /  
****Disclaimer: Not mine. :)  
P****lease, no tar and feathers. And without further adieu, chapter twelve.**

**(A slight recap in Lorelai's POV)**

Have you ever loved someone, so much that you had to block them out for their own safety? I have. I'm not the best influence in the world, I'm a little unpredictable and I'm a little unstable. That's what makes me me. Something that also makes me _me_, is my incredible stubborn ways. Two years ago, because of the terrible influence I was, my baby sister made a mistake and thought she was pregnant. Instantly, I had a flashback, to my own younger self. The guy she was with, was flaky and could definitely not handle the responsibility of a baby, or a family at the time. When she told me, I freaked out. I was mad. When Luke explained that instead of yelling at her, I was really yelling at myself, I felt horrible for taking the anger I felt towards myself out on her. I never told her that, instead I blocked her out. I was convinced at the time that by removing myself from her situation she would be better off. So that's what I did. I haven't spoken to my sister in a year and a half.

This hasn't only affected me, but it's also affected my family. I've been distant, and detached. I feel absolutely horrible. My kids are suffering. My marriage is suffering. I want to go back, and fix it all. I can't, though. What's done is done, and because of my action my family has to deal with the consequences.

* * *

**(Regular POV)**

Lorelai woke up at 7:30 and went into the room down the hall, where her two year old twin babies slept peacefully. She kissed them both, softly and made her way downstairs where the smell of Luke's coffee greeted her.

"Good morning," Lorelai said groggily to Luke who was positioned wordlessly in front of the stove.

"Hey, you sleep well?" He asked, turning away from his crackling bacon.

"Uh, no."

"I could tell. What's been going on with you, lately?" Luke asked, concerned.

"I don't know. I just haven't been sleeping well. I'm sorry." The edge in her voice was clear.

"I'm worried about you, Lorelai. You don't need to get all defensive. I'm allowed to worry about you, aren't I?"

"Yeah, but you don't need to. I'm fine."

"You're obviously not fine! Stop lying to me. If there's something bothering you, you need to tell me. I want to help."

"Luke, it's 7:30, can we please talk about this later?"

"No. Lorelai it isn't just this morning. It's every morning. It was yesterday, it was last week, last month... since you stopped talking to Ann you haven't been yourself. I want my Lorelai back. I need **my **Lorelai." He flipped the egg in the pan, and turned to Lorelai, looking her square in the eye. She looked back, tears in her eyes and whispered,

"Please do not bring up Ann. Please."

"If I don't bring her up, I'll never have you back. I miss you, Lorelai. I really do." He plated the eggs that were in the pan, and set the plate in front of Lorelai who was now sitting at the kitchen table. Without letting her reply, Luke walked up the stairs quietly as to not wake the babies, and got into the shower. Lorelai watched him walk away from her, and it hit her. She needed herself back, too. She was falling apart, little piece by little piece.

"Mom... is Dad okay? He sounded angry." Rory asked, emerging from her kitchen-side bedroom.

"Yeah. He's fine. Everything is fine. Are you hungry?" Lorelai asked, picking up the plate Luke had prepared for her and placing it in front of Rory. "I'm gonna go to Sookie's, tell your Dad I'll talk to him later."

"Mom, you're in your PJ's." Rory pointed out.

"I can't go upstairs right now. I'm just... I'll see you later. Do well on your science test today." Lorelai got up and started towards the door.

"Math test." Rory corrected, taking a bite of the bacon on her plate.

"Right. Good luck." And with that, Lorelai grabbed her keys from the table and walked out the front door. After a beat, Luke jogged down the stairs clad in his signature plaid flannel and blue jeans.

"Hey, Rory where'd your mom go?"

"She went to Sookie's she asked me to tell you she'd talk to you later. Is she okay? She seemed... spacey."

"I brought up your Aunt."

"That's never a good thing. Do you think they'll ever talk again? I miss Aunt Ann." Luke walked over to the refrigerator and poured Rory a glass of orange juice, setting it in front of her.

"I don't know. At this rate, I'm not expecting anything too soon. She still blames herself for every little mistake that Ann's ever made. Once she stops doing that, she might realize that she needs her sister to be herself, again."

"Dad, are you talking to me, or yourself?"

"A little of both. Sorry. When you're finished go get ready for school. I have to get the twins up and ready, since your mom left already." Rory nodded, and Luke walked back upstairs to get the twins ready. When he approached their room he took a second to survey the scene. When the twins slept they looked more and more like Lorelai every day. He closed his eyes for a moment and etched the picture before him in his mind. When his eyes opened a few seconds later they met Will's.

"Daddy? Where's mommy?" The little boy asked, he was so used to waking up to his mother's voice, that the disruption in his schedule confused him.

"She had to go to work early. I'm gonna get you ready today, okay?" Will nodded and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Luke walked over to the side of the room where Lauren lie, still sleeping soundly. "Lauren," Luke whispered, gently touching the girl's shoulder. "Lauren, baby, wake up." The three year old turned over. Just like her mother, she hated mornings. "Lauren, sweetie you have to wake up." Lauren shifted and her eyes fluttered open.

"Morning Daddy." She paused. "Where's mommy?" Luke moved a strand of hair from Lauren's face.

"She went to work early," He lied.

"Oh. Okay..." The little girl rubbed her eyes and sat up slowly.

After getting the twins fed and dressed he knocked on Rory's door to let her know that he was heading over to the diner. She left a few minutes later, meeting up with Lane and walking to school.

Lorelai avoided Luke all day, and even when Luke got home that evening Lorelai was already asleep.

* * *

**Sookie's House**

After half jogging to her Jeep, Lorelai drove aggressively to Sookie's house. Something she'd done frequently over the last two years. Luke would often make a point to see if she were okay, and it made her feel smothered, she had to escape and the only way she could do that was to run. It's all she knew.

"Lorelai? What are you doing here so early?" Sookie asked after Lorelai knocked softly on her door. "It's not even eight o'clock... You and Luke aren't fighting are you? You can't leave him alone with three kids, hon. He'll drive himself mad. You'll forgive him, he'll forgive you and everything will go back to normal. Don't worry about it."

"He brought up Ann." Lorelai still hadn't made direct eye contact with her best friend. There was something legitimately wrong when she couldn't even look Sookie in the eye, and Sookie knew that.

"Come in, Lorelai." Sookie said, moving out of the doorway so Lorelai could pass. Once inside they sat on opposite sides of the living room. Lorelai on the couch, and Sookie on the recliner. "What did he say?"

She considered it, "He said since I'd stopped talking to Ann, I haven't been myself." She still looked in the direction of the floor, her hands folded in her pajama clad lap.

"That isn't completely inaccurate. He's right, you haven't been the Lorelai I know and love, in quite a long time."

"What am I supposed to do? After two years just randomly pick of the phone and say 'Hey sis, how's life been? Sorry I flaked out on you two years ago.' Is that what you want?" Sookie looked hurt, "I didn't mean to yell, Sook. I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

"It's not okay. I'm sick of Luke being right. I miss her, but I can't go back. There isn't anything I can do."

"You could apologize. It's been a while, but rather late than never... right?"

"I can't do that. Not after what was said. I cut myself off for her own safety." Finally Lorelai looked up, with tears clouding her bright blue eyes. "I miss my baby sister, Sookie and I can't do anything about it."

* * *

**Hartford, Connecticut  
Residence of Ann Marie Gilmore & Jason 'Digger' Stiles. 6:00PM**

Ann Gilmore and Jason Stiles had been seeing each other for a little over a year, and they'd been living together for six months. The relationship had come easily, since they'd known each other from a camp they attended as children. Jason had always seemed to be more interested in Lorelai when they were younger, since they were closer in age. Now though, Jason was 34, Ann was only 23. The eleven year age difference was a bonus for Jason, who was really only in the relationship for the sex. Really, he'd wanted Lorelai. She was older, sure, but far more attractive and far more experienced. From the things Christopher had told him, even as a teenager Lorelai was willing to try anything. He could only imagine what she would do now that she was older. She was married, though and when Jason met up with Ann the plan to date, marry & dump her already began to form. Ann was very attractive, rich, and very willing to please if you know what I mean.

"Jason?" Ann asked, walking into the living room where Jason was set up on the couch, his laptop sitting in his lap, he typing away.

He made an acknowledging sound.

"Dinner's almost ready. I made chicken cordon bleu." She said.

"I'm actually right in the middle of something. Could you hold off until I'm finished?"

"No, Jason really I can't. Can you just... come eat with me, please. Five minutes?"

"I really want to, I do, but I really have to finish this. It's like when you have an article to finish, and I pester you to come do something with me, and you so nicely decline." She walked towards the couch and kneeled next to him, getting so close to his face that he could smell the sweet perfume she'd put on early that morning.

"I _never_ decline." She kissed him softly on the cheek. "Please come eat with me," She whispered, kissing his jawline, up to his ear. Jason moved the laptop to the floor, closing it and turning to Ann. He leaned into her kissing her slowly, pulling her on top of him. She happily climbed on top of him so her already small skirt bunched up around her waist. A timer went off in the kitchen. She pulled back from their long kiss, "Dinner time." She smiled and pulled his hand slightly so he'd get up. He watched her get up off of him, straighten her skirt and walk away.

It wasn't a rare occasion that Ann thought of her sister. It was frequent, and when she did, she remembered how much she'd missed her. How much she longed to hear her voice, and for Lorelai to tell her how happy she was for her. She missed her niece, and she missed Luke, and she missed those babies... who weren't exactly babies anymore. She tried to call once. Lorelai answered, and Ann hung up quickly.

"I was thinking about going to see Lorelai tomorrow." Ann said, taking a sip of her wine. Jason's head shot up at Lorelai's name.

"Oh? Maybe we could have dinner with her and her husband sometime."

"Jason, I haven't spoken to her in two years."

"Oh right. Well, then. Why were you planning on seeing her tomorrow?"

"...I haven't spoken to her in two years. I miss her. I might not even go. Maybe I'll just stop in to see Luke. He'll update me, I'm sure."

"Luke?"

"Lorelai's husband."

"Oh right."

"I'm not even sure she'll speak to me. Luke will, though. He's a good guy."

"I could go see Lorelai for you, if you want. See what she thinks about meeting up with you."

"That would be wonderful! Thank you,"

* * *

**Independence Inn, 8:00AM**

Lorelai got up extra early the next morning and made it out the door before Luke even woke up, which was an accomplishment. She wasn't ready to face him. Something else though, that she also wasn't ready for was a visit from the past. A not so pleasant past.

"Lorelai, there's someone here that would like to speak to you, can I send him over?"

"Um, sure. Why not." Lorelai straightened her skirt and when she looked up, the next thing she saw was "Digger?"

"No one's called me Digger since camp, Lorelai."

"I will always call you Digger. Simply because there was never a time when I didn't call you Digger. I know nothing else, but to call you Digger."

"There was that one time..."

"That doesn't count."

"You know what I'm talking about then? The night of that party..."

"Party?"

"You don't remember the party?" Jason asked, getting closer to the desk that separated Lorelai and him.

"Um, no. Was I drunk?"

"Yes, yes you were. Very actually. That's beside the point though, it was a very good party. Very good. Christopher's party, actually. His fifteenth birthday party actually. He'd made you angry apparently, and you wanted to get back at him." Lorelai looked confused. "You slept with me." She cringed. "Oh, don't look so disgusted, please. The hurts my ego."

"Oh. That isn't what you came here to talk about is it? Because I'm married," She held up her left hand. "I have kids. I'm happy." Okay, so she wasn't exactly happy at that particular moment, but in general she was happy.

"I know, I actually came here to talk to you about your sister."

"Well, don't. Did my mother send you here because she's tried this before. It isn't just me. She won't talk to me either."

"Your mother did not send me here. Your mom never really liked me. Ann actually sent me."

"You talk to Ann?"

"I live with Ann," He corrected.

"I'm sorry what? I think I misheard you."

"Your sister and I have been dating for a little over a year. We've lived together for six months." He said in his signature cocky tone.

"Oh my god." Lorelai turned around and walked toward the kitchen.

"Lorelai come back, please."

"Oh my god!" She repeated, speeding up her walk. "Sook, do we have any coffee?"

"I had Ray go pick some up from Doose's. We're out, sorry hon. You sound frustrated, are you okay?"

"We'll talk later..., I'm just, I'm gonna go get some coffee from Luke's, I guess."

"You two are okay, then?"

"No... but he has the best coffee." She turned on her heal, and walked out past Jason and into her Jeep. She drove as fast as humanly possible through the pedestrian full streets of Stars Hollow. When she arrived at Luke's though, she was met by yet another thing that she was just not prepared for. As she opened the door and was greeted by the familiar sound of the bell overhead she saw her sister cradling her three year old son in her arms.

Ann turned around at the sound of the bell. She looked surprised, Luke had told her that the chances of Lorelai coming to the diner were very slim. No one spoke, until Luke walked out from the back, Lauren walking beside him. He stopped, but Lauren ran to her mother.

"Mommy!" Lorelai didn't hear, her eyes were locked with Ann's.

* * *

**TBC. **

**Another update within a week.  
I'm so sorry I made you wait soo long.  
Please review. & Keep in mind that this was NOT beta read. :)**


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